To die, to drown, to remember me
by shadowanime1
Summary: Sequel to Angels fall.  Set approximately one year later, when the former imprisoned king of darkness regained his freedom. Yet freedom...freedom is just an illusion easily taken away. And memories, memories die as easily as they were made to start with.
1. Chapter 1

**To die, to drown, to remember me**

I know I promised writing a sequel a while back, but I simply couldn't do much about it…..writers block I'm afraid and to may different views of how to do it. I have several good ideas but still lack in putting them together the way I wish to. However, I'll be doing my best from now on.

As posted in the small summary section, the story will take place one year after **Angels fall..., **so for those who aren't familiar with it, if you wish to understand it would be better to read that one first.

Hellsing is falling into decay, shunned and no longer deemed important by London's rulers. If vampires are not desired, yet their power revered what outcome could one city possibly have on the brink of a whole new war? Old enemies resurface and the shift in power will lead to a new vampiric birth.

For now, that will be all, but I hope to bring you this story as soon as possible. Patience is a virtue so please be patient.

Bye, bye shadow.

P.s. The title once again, as in my last work, is significant in meaning to some events sure to happen throughout the story. So maybe you'll have a go at guessing till the first chapter comes out.

Bye.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, so here is the first chapter of my brand new story. I'll be including several manga related scenes in it not to mention the usual blood, gore and violence that usually accompany a good vampire story. Hope you'll like it. It will be a multy-chapter fic, some of them partially written as i said in the prologue but that can still change over time. Anyway, enjoy.

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**Chapter 1**

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"_You have made sure then?"_ A male voice finally said over the phone ending the minute long silence.

"Everything has been taken care of. I assure you." The recipient answered while looking down at his closed black-gloved hand, a small medical vile with dark red liquid in it. "A few hours, no more. Everything will be documented."

"_Good_." The line went dead.

"O yes, all will be _well_ documented." The man repeated chuckling lightly while stirring the vial's contents. Half his face remained obscured by the dark hood of his jumper though several strands of ebony hair evaded it sticking out. Hiding it back in his hind pocket, he exited the phone both and walked out into the pouring rain.

"!" A high pitched scream followed the on slot of gun fire. A teen's body fell lifeless to the floor, multiple holes within his chest and abdomen, all bleeding profusely. The remaining three could only watch in horror as their friend's life violently ended. At the other end of the weapon, clenching it tightly, stood a red haired freak vampire, blood covered in blood. Spitting over the body he quickly turned the gun towards the next closest victim, the dark brown haired girl which had previously screamed and was now sobbing in both fear and pain. He'd already killed four of their group.

"Pl…ease….pl…" She said through tears. All three were beaten and bleeding from bites to the neck.

"Shut it bitch!" the freak shouted as he pressed the cold barrel of his gun against her forehead. He laughed; a psychotic, demented laugh revealing in the bloodshed he'd caused. His finger squeezed the trigger slowly ready to fire.

"Wait." A second man with short dark hair, yellowish eyes and multiple lip piercing said. He shoved the only other girl remaining towards the one kneeling and held at gun point. "This one too. Together."

"Please juahhhh…." She whimpered aching from her injuries but was silenced by o powerful blow to the stomach before brutally being lifted to he knees be her pale hair. Her head was pulled back in a painful angle and held there by the cold steel of a switchblade which easily cut through the first layers of skin all around her throat.

"You got something to say? Do you?" He hissed pushing the blade further against her flesh. The girl could only cry and tremble in fear.

"You fuck!" The last teen screamed struggling against the two goons holding him down. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

As the red haired leader watched him grinning, he made a small gesture with his head towards one of the two men behind the boy in question. They wore all black with masks over their faces. The one in question wasted no time in breaking the boy's left arm and then kicking him in the gut several times once he screamed in pain. He kept at it till blood flowed freely out of his mouth.

"St...op….stop it!" The brown haired girl pleaded while the other one continued to sob. They didn't, instead continued with a few kicks more and a second broken appendage; the boy's leg. He screamed in pain anew then grunted spitting more blood onto the already blood floor.

"Shut up!" He demanded striking her right cheek with the gun so hard it caused her to fall down. A fire was shot right next to her head. "You wanna say that again! Say it to my fucking face!" He pointed the gun again, right between her eyes as she cried in pure terror. "Go on, say it! Say it!"

Despite him screaming and pushing, she remained silent, paralyzed by fear and panic. The freak grinned in pleasure. It was over. He squeezed the trigger, took the shot.

.

.

.

Nothing happened. The girl continued to whimper, eyes partially reopening to the sight of the gun still pressed against her skin.

"What the?.." The freak asked raising the weapon towards his only to have the bullet hit his flesh instead that of the girl. It pierced his shoulder widening the space between him and his victim. "Mother fu…." An unexpected blow to the jaw silenced him. Then another and another and another all coming incredibly fast and out of nowhere. The last one sent him flying towards the bar on the other side of the room so that his back hit with enough strength to partially break it. The next thing anyone knew all three teenagers were rounded up in front of the nearest door while their captors grunted in pain on the other side: both freaks down and their henchmen dead with broken necks hanging from the ceiling. And in the middle: a golden hired beauty with intense deep crimson eyes wearing a long black leather coat and pants, dark crimson shirt with a short, black vest over her chest with a matching tie. Two belts hung over her hips the latter of which much lower as it held a gun, partially obscured by the coat, within it.

Her head currently faced the frightened children.

"Leave." Flicking her wrist the door burst open. Seeing as they didn't move she raised her voice enough to pull them out of the fear induced trance. Her eyes locked onto the three pairs at once before speaking.

/Criminals attacked and kidnapped you, nothing else happened. You will not remember anything else, nothing else. Now go./

"Move." Shaken, too afraid to even respond, they moved as soon as their minds were captured and commanded. The two girls picked up the boy and dragged him away to the best of their abilities. The metal door closed behind them with a loud thud.

"Vampires don't mess with freaks boy. Didn't anyone tell you that?" Seras said gazing at the black haired, yellow eyes man. One of his eyes crimson and bleeding as the contact lens he'd worn broke from her punch. "Where's your master boy?"

Her fangs lengthened as she fully turned his way and moved closer; the silver heels of her high boots rand out in the silence.

"Master?" The vampire laughed whipping blood of his face with his sleeve in a very un-vampire like fashion. "What master? That bitch is long dead. Just as you'll be."

Another voice joined their conversation as the freak got up cracking his neck while laughing in a semi mocking manner. "That hurt." His eyes hardened though turning serious. "You stole our food, playthings."

"They aren't your food, you had no right. Especially you." Her eyes shifted towards the real vampire. "You are not allowed to feed of humans in this city. You've heard this before."

"Well we weren't really feeding off them, were we? We tracked them, beat and bled them but that doesn't really mean we _liked_ drinking from them; swallowing for that matter. It was fun." He said back.

"What's it to you anyways? Vampire!" The freak followed. "Or did you want to join in? They're so easy to find, so easy it's almost no fun."

"Almost."

Both laughed amused by her actions. "So tell me babe, which one of us you really want? Better yet…." The vampire moved quickly to grab the front of her shirt, shoving his face right in front of hers."…how about us both?"

"How about you die?" She questioned back before removing herself from him and breaking both his arms in the process and dislocating his shoulders.

"Ahhh!" he screamed in agony, grunting face down on the dirty floor. "Fucking bitcAhhhhh!" his left leg followed in one firm stomp.

"Shit man! What the hell are you doing?" said the red hair.

"Playing." Seras appeared before him, gun in her right hand pointed straight at his heart. The white metal of the weapon shone in the artificial light of the room shifting color. It had a long barrel, longer than normal for a typical gun, yet very similar in fashion to the ones her master always used. "But if I think about it, why waste a perfectly good bullet one filth like you? I could just rip out your heart and step on it." Her voice turned dark and menacing just as her eyes did. Both captured the freak's attention so much he missed the sound of the safety cap as it was pulled back.

/Though, messing up my new shoos isn't something I need./

She was mm away from firing when a small red dot appeared on her back over the right shoulder blade and she herself was shot. The same happened too the recovering vampire and the petrified freak. A strange burning sensation followed lasting only a few seconds. Strangely the unnatural vampire immediately began to grunt and scream and clutch his side. He fell to his knees coughing up blood.

" _It's done. Subject has been acquired." _

"Who's there?" Seras's senses immediately alerted at the sudden sound of the strange voice. She scanned the room in search of it and its potential owner without success.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

The vampire screamed in sudden terror struggling to get up despite his broken appendages. "!" He ran; limping his way towards the door lastly used by the terrified teens. His escape ended the moment he set foot outside and met his death at the end of silver rain. His body turned to ash, the grey dust mixing with his spilled blood.

"Fuck it!" The freak said stabbing the draculina in her thigh with his pocketknife. He then jumped her from behind and grabbed her hair in order to slam her head against the bar's side repeatedly. He broke her nose before she managed to get away and fight back. She pushed herself up with one hand while flinging the left up to grab his blue shirt and threw him over her head. Her injuries healed in less time all of it took place but the bizarre sensation returned similar to a dizzy spell. The objects began to move and the image perceived to blur. A light throbbing soon followed mimicking a headache. She got up shaking it off but had already lost precious seconds in the fight with the freak vampire. The enemy to take the upper hand in no time and kicked her right in the stomach first and then the jaw as she cringed in pain from the first blow. Seras backed up a few steps before falling to her knees and gripping her head with both hands. The pain and throbbing became worse by changing into a high pitched screech distorting her vision completely and other sense as well move than ever. Head facing down, a trickle of crimson ran down the side of her jaw from her cut lip.

"Fuck!" The red haired freak vampire suddenly trembled uncontrollably on his feet trying to reload his gun. He too began experiencing vision distortion, but unlike the draculina, he was also starting to lose all control over his body's functions. "I'll fucking kill you! I'll…..kil….ou!" Aiming it straight at her bowed head he shot every bullet in the casing without stopping despite his inability to even aim straight. The draculina's eyes violently snapped open to the sound of that first shot; both pupils so small they could barely be seem in the pool of almost black crimson they resided in. Her lips were pulled back into a rage filled sneer while she held him pinned to a wall with her right hand tightly wrapped around his throat squeezing the unlife out of him. The other securely held the one holding the gun above his head forcing him to continue shooting while his wrist snapped in two from the applied pressure. She had moved so fast she became nothing but a black blur flying from one side of the room to another.

"You!" She spat out in pure rage no longer seeing him but something else, someone else as she raised her head. His eyes, hair and face all changed settling on that one face which had haunted her nightmares for years. And then it hit her: the laugh. That horrible lustful laugh mixed with groaning and panting sounds which had embedded itself so deeply inside her subconscious mind as she lay dieing on her home's floor. The screeching went on, her ears no longer able to pay attention to anything else around her especially his words. Her jaws and fists were immediately clenched in incredible anger, eyes narrowed dangerously from their former shocked expression and burning like hellfire. Dark shadows began swirling more and more violently around her feet as the deeply buried memories resurfaced. And with it the pain felt so long ago reawakened. The blood inside began to boil. She turned blind and death to the real world around her.

"You god damn bastard!"

The dieing freak stared at her in shock from the chill and darkness filling the room as she screamed those words with utter hatred devouring her tongue. The tip of the freak's boots barely touched the floor despite him being taller than the golden haired vampire. Blood continued to leak from his mouth and side, the bones in his neck cracking one after the other easier than twigs.

"Fu...uhh…" He grunted due to her tightening grip.

"You killed them….." Seras whispered furiously, fangs growing to their fullest and eyes flashing even more treacherously. "You killed them!"

He smirked for a moment as much as his unresponsive body would allow then laughed spitting crimson liquid over her face. "You think I care….over some lou….syhhhh pieces of s….hgnnn….."

He didn't even have to finish as twisted his neck and then pulled him forward and shoved him with full strength back against the wall. The very moment his back hit the concrete it left a deep dent within it as she forced his body to keep moving forward. She the kept on repeating the same movement till a large blood marred the dark grey stone and dripped down in large drips. Her fingernails pierced his flesh straight through the clothing he wore. Her fingers pierced his windpipe as she once again brought his face up to hers. He was no longer moving whatsoever.

"You bastard you raped her!" Her face moved hovered over that of the freak's, her right eye completely black as the left still lingered in its crimson color though seemed to constantly shift between the two. That one image continued to ravage and keep a firm control over her mind: the blood, misery, anger, the smirk and the god damn laugh; the utter disregard for a lifeless body. "Both of you killed them! You raped her corpse in front of me!"

Screaming she threw the carcass all the way across the room with enough force to make him completely go through the opposite wall. She no longer cared. She descended upon his remains like a mountain on an ant. "I'll tear you apart as I did that fucking eye of yours!"

Meanwhile at the Hellsing manor miles away.

"Why are you here vampire? I thought my orders were clear?" Integra asked while behind her desk, a hint of annoyance within her voice. "Or are you bored already?"

"No." followed his simple reply. A moment more passed as the vampire continued to bask in silence and just watch the beautiful night sky through the opened office window as light breeze played with the thin, transparent curtains framing it. No glasses or hat covered up his face; his arms lay motionless on either side of his body. A light breeze played with the thin, transparent curtains before him.

"Then will you make like bat and fly away? I'm not in the mood for **your** various moods right now." She instinctively moved her hand towards the farther left drawer of the desk opening it yet the object of her craving was nowhere to be seen. So used to doing it in the past, it turned into a real reflex acting up almost each and every time the vampire would get of her nerves. Now how often did that **not **happen? She sighed irritated slamming it shut just as fast.

"Damn it." She hissed through clenched teeth. "I am sorry but….." Walter said with a mischievous grin on his lips yet predominantly caring. "It's fine." She immediately snapped at him.

Alucard chuckled lips parting just slightly to reveal a hint of his sharp fangs as he observed the two interact from the corner of one eye. "Nice to see you listening to someone else for a change my master."

"One more word and you'll be doing all the listening, is that clear **my** **servant**?"

It was as he if could feel the chill of her words touch his skin. And it only accomplished in one goal, causing him to chuckle once more. It felt nice knowing her present state did not affect their relationship so to speak. No, not one bit.

"Yes my master. It could hardly be any clearer." Turning from his previous activity his own fiery eyes stopped upon her changed figure.

"Good. Then spill it out or leave."

"And what would _that_ be master?" Laughing he barely had time to dodge the silver ashtray thrown in his direction. It hit the wall shattering on impact.

"Now, now master haven't you learned to take care of your things like a proper lady?"

"Will you just…!" Integra threatened, left eye twitching a bit as she fought to keep her self control and not throw the reserve ashtray at him. Although a bullet seemed so much better right about now.

"Enough." Walter's voice firmly and loud enough said so that both might hear. "I swear even children behave better than this. Is this all you two have been doing in my absence? I'm beginning to feel sorry for poor Seras for putting up with both your antics on her own. Nothing changes with you, does it? " Crossing his arms in front of his chest he hoped his small lecture would put an end to it. As if things work that easily in _real_ life?

"Yes mother, of course." Alucard said while grinning. Yet a mere moment later he compelled himself to become serious. "The police girl can handle herself. I'm here on a different matter yet one that also concerns her. It's something we've discussed once long ago."

"You mean _that_ talk." Integra said.

"Yes, that one."

"Why are you asking me? Now?"

"Because I recall promising to do so."

"And I recall telling you no. Not with that weasel on my back every minute of the damn day. I have no intention of having him snoop around like the miserable little leach that he is vampire, do you understand?"

"Ah but should he what then? You've never feared _their_ judgment before."

"Their opinion values little to me my servant, however, things have changed and not for the very best. We aren't in high favor any longer and until I find out why you, that is to say the both of you, are grounded to the estate until further notice. Missions only and you know it."

The two stared at each other with narrowed eyes, deep crimson versus icy blue for several moments before the vampire shifted his gaze back towards the beautiful night sky.

"Still the little girl and the monster, yet still I continue to obey." He then chuckled, chin moving up by only a few inches and eyes closing. They reopened to the words: "Humans."

It was barely a second later that his eyes closed shut in pain, his jaws clenched shut and his head went down along with his upper body. His right hand automatically went for his chest as if the pain was most intense at that particular point. The bright flash of his crimson irises didn't go unnoticed as they reopened and a low, deep groan escaped his lips. His other arm took hold of the window's edge in an attempt to support himself. It happened fast; a strange and overwhelming feeling wracking its way through his entire body although it also felt completely far away. His mind focused on it trying to locate its source but came empty as his body betrayed nothing at all. Then, out of the blue, a strong and intense feeling of dread washed over his senses. His left knee gave out first causing him to drop down and kneel at the side of the window in what seemed to be obvious distress. A second groan followed far stronger than the first.

"Seras….." He both hissed in a deep whisper. Walter reacted first in moving towards the kneeling vampire with his right arm outstretched to touch his shoulder.

"Alucard!" The woman questioned standing up with somewhat difficulty. His head was bent down allowing the short ebony locks to cover most of his face. Before another word could be uttered two crimson droplets dripped onto the stone slabs of the floor. Pulling back at his shoulder Walter watched as his hair moved revealing not only more of his pale complexion but the fine crimson line of his shed tear across his left cheek. "Alucard what's wrong?"

Instead of answering the vampire quickly stood up taking no more than two steps before vanishing in the shape of a shadowy mass. As quickly as possible, he made his way towards the source of his current pain. Almost right after that the phone on the desk rang.

"Speak." Integra said in a firm voice.

"Sir i…it's the vamp….vampire she's go….." The male voice at the other end said though it could barely be made out. There were screams and the sounds of bullets being heavily fired in the background.

"Captain? What is going on? Answer me!" There was nothing. The line went silent soon after. "Damn it!" Angry she slammed the phone back on its hook and turned towards the young butler behind her ready to say something.

"Problems Sir Integra?" A third male voice said as the door to her office opened.

Back at the building in question, the ancient vampire's appearance barely went noticeable. There were neither freaks nor Hellsing's own troupes in sight. It wasn't until he stepped into it that he was confronted with the bloody sight. The whole floor was completely soaked in crimson as well as the walls almost all the way to the ceiling. Most of the men were injured and bleeding yet had somehow managed to stay alive so far. The enemy, however, that was a different story. The draculina had moved so fast even he had almost missed it had he blinked a second too quick. The scythe held in her right hand swinged without a second thought at the body hanging limb from the very long and thin cord that had once functioned as part of the electric lines of the building. A metal pole stuck out from his chest dripping blood. In less then a second he went for a whole to a piece cut in half then pieces: many and tiny, flying all around her along with the metal that had once penetrated his flesh. Teh final blow had the weapon flying right out of her hand and crash forcefully into the wall. Watching her Alucard stepped closer with care, his eyes firmly focused of her stained clothing and vicious expression.

[Vampire!] Pip's voice called out to him in obvious distress bringing him out the spell of her movement. [Do something I can't control her!]

Just then the draculina turned. Both her golden hair and clothes soaked, right eye pitch black as the night sky and the left a very deep wine like crimson. A conversation couldn't even be started as she attacked head on. Her right fist made contact with his stomach thus allowing her other hand to press against his face and shove him back. Simultaneously her left foot tripped his own causing him to fall. The added pressure on his head meant he hit the ground hard. After that he saw her release him quickly and draw back as if struggling with her previous actions against him. He quickly ceased the opportunity to grab hold of her wrist and stand up.

"Seras!" He called her name with little effect. Her shadows attacked only to be confronted by his own.

"Leave…." She hissed full of anger. "Leave!" She then screamed taking hold of his red cravat and pushing him back once again. This time, however, instead of hitting the wall anew both were fazed away to resurface on the mansion's grounds, the sound of their struggle enough to alert every soldier positioned around the building for protection. The mass of shadows concealed them; however, it didn't form a single unity and instead consisted of several fighting against each other. Not after the mass broke apart were the two vampires able to come into view. Their clothes were partially ripped in various places with blood now staining the elders as well. It could not have been more than a few seconds from fading to reappearing yet both looked as if hours and not moments had passed between their struggles. Seras's black boots barely touched the dark soil when a large hole formed right where she stood. Alucard struck. His right fist went through the ground like a sharp knife would through half melted butter. With raven locks still lingering up in the air, the rest of his body was crouched down on one knee with an all too familiar grin plastered all over his face. Despite Seras had managing to avoid getting hit, the battle was far from being over. Both vampires started moving with immense speed, claws and fangs extended for maximum damage. They were like flashes of black mist coming and going with only the sound of their clashing as a witness to their actions and presents. This game of cat and mouse went on fro several minutes more before the two instantly reappeared close to one of the mansion's walls. As if in sink with each other, they struck and dodged at the same time several times over letting the sharp talons do their work for them. And though the draculina got the first hit causing three deep gashes to appear on her masters left cheek and spill immortal blood, the later wasted no time in reacting. Just after her claws left his skin he repaid the favor. It went on till both finally pulled apart by drawing back a few steps and making the dust under their feet rise with their movements. Their injuries became visible. Two more cuts grazed Alucard's face while a long one marred the younger vampire's. It went from mid left cheek over her nose and ended just under her right eyes, mm away from removing it. To it, four more had cut open the same side of her throat all the way up to her chin. Though each one had deep and sever wounds, all traces vanished as they healed up almost instantly while the two continued to face each other for a second time. With wine like nectar dripping from stained fingers their crimson orbs fixed and not letting their opponent out of their sight.

"Seras…" Alucard hissed while slowly advancing towards her with one arm fully extended as to grab hold of her. She wasn't listening.

"Leave!" she kept repeating over and over again, then…. "Leave, leave, leave…..Get off her!" She screamed in soul crushing despair as loud as she her dead lungs allowed it straight into his face while piercing his abdomen with her scythe the moment he was but a foot away from reaching her. She didn't get to pull it back out as the ancient vampire ignored the incident and quickly reacted by immobilizing her arms behind her while biting at her exposed throat. His fangs sank in deep drawing her heated blood into his mouth. A deep groan escaped him as he savored the rich and unique taste, a piercing scream left her. However, the very moment her blood touched his tongue he picked up something new within it, something that definitely shouldn't be there. Something strangely familiar.

/Obey your master girl!/

Seras's jaws were clenched, chin and lower portion of her throat tainted by the amount of spilled crimson. Her mind wasn't responding. /Seras!/ so he went further and deeper with nothing but darkness in his path.

"Vampire!" Pip's body took shape but he had trouble keeping. "What are you doing? Help her!"

Alucard glared at the Frenchman with narrowed eyes from behind the draculina's left shoulder. "Try harder! She's lost it and her mind is in complete disarray. I can't reach her."

The girl's scream interrupted them. Her struggle against the vampire finally paid off and she broke free despite his grip and teeth still deeply embedded within her flesh. They ripped at her fresh do to her violent outburst and retreat thus leaving a deep gash in their place. "Get away from me!" Her right hand went for the scythe and as she pulled it out she quickly swung it in a different direction severing his underarm. Then bending her body she raised her right leg kicking him. The shadows around her followed in pursuit but suddenly changed direction and moved towards her. The French mercenary reappeared behind her enclosing his arms around her waist in a tight grip.

"Mignonette please calm down. Please stop."

"Get off….off….leave me! Leave me!"

"Mignonette."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Seras grabbed his wrists effortlessly parting his arms as though they were nothing buy mere twigs in the hands of a giant. Crimson tears began leaking from the corners of her eyes; more darkness surrounded her, the energy cracking around her feet as it poured out of her, and her hair slowly lengthened and rose up while moving. The ground beneath her feet shook for a moment before the hard soil gave way cracking open under the strain of her power. Her head turned to the side enough so she could see the mercenary behind her. With force she moved her left arm turning her body as she went and racked her elongated sharp nail across his frame from shoulder to the middle of his chest. No blood came out off the wounds just more strands of swirling darkness, yet even so he had no time to react but barely take a step to the right as his body regained its original shape and became nothing more than a large shadow once again. It rejoined its sisters swirling at her feet without as much as being able to utter another word.

[Help her!] His last words fade into nothingness.

"Calm yourself girl, obey your master!" Alucard's voice shouted firm yet gentle, the tone commanding enough to reach her. The scent of freshly spilled blood hung deeply in the air around them and intensified when he finally managed to take hold of her blood soaked left arm. Her eyes were horribly unfocused, especially the black one, as they moved over the contours of his face like she had never seen it before in her entire life. "You will listen! Supune-te!"

Regardless of his efforts or the sound of his voice which clearly reached her, she continued to struggle. And the more she struggled the more the vampire's intentions to stop her dwindled. Whatever happened to her seemed to have full control over her and that in turn managed to intrigue him greatly. After all, what could possibly have happen in but a few hours to make her so violent and unresponsive all of the sudden? Not that he was complaining really, it was in fact very interesting. He had never, after all that happened lately, had a proper go at exploring her new found abilities. "Police girl…." The words were purred as they rolled like honey off his tongue. And he made every effort to say them in that one special way that always got her attention. He **would** have it.

"Yes?" She whispered back softly without even realizing it until the final sound passed her lips. Laughing at his success his damaged outfit changed to an all black, leather one, pants and jacket with straps going over its sides. His hair also lengthened in the process.

"Your blood excites me so. I believe I'll be taking even more!"

Screaming that last part his shadows swiftly moved over the ground then rose up and grabbed her legs in a tight grip and hurled her as hard as possible right into the nearest structure. The impact was brutal and cause of it part of the construction gave way forming a rather large whole. Afterwards the entire west wall on the ground floor cracked all the way to the top. Crimson stained some of the rocks in large quantities while others were like sprayed with paint. Her scent filled the air around him in seconds, the alluring flavor making his eyes flash in pure desire. As the dust cleared up a bit there was flash of gold, small enough to go unnoticed but big enough to make her presents known. Alucard tensed in anticipation his right hand forming a fist as he prepared to strike. But just as he was about to make contact the figure vanished anew. In less than a second his fierce eyes moved with his head to the side fully expecting her o come from behind. However, as cunning as he may be, this time the young draculina beat him to it. The blow came exactly when he saw her figure from the corner of his eye, a full frontal assault as her right elbow embedded itself in the middle of his chest thus breaking the sternum and the front part of the ribs fused to it. If rocks could barely withstand her strength during training, then how could mere bones? Even if they did belong to a most powerful creature. After that Seras descended upon him repeating the process as she struck again, this time from behind, into his back over and over again propelling him forward. Back and forth she went, blow after blow, while causing him to fly through the sky until he was several good meters off the ground. Body arched with his head leaned back exposing his throat and black figure hovering in the contrast of the cycle shaped white moon and raven locks like a cape around him. Blood left his mouth after each blow thus forming a long thin line that followed his every move.

"That's not….." Walter whispered while watching by the smashed wall. The intense commotion had the two leave the office as well.

"Seras?" Integra continued just as amazed. She hadn't seen the young vampire in such a state except that time in the forest. But even then...

Eyes closed while his body kept on rising they slowly reopened as he felt her coming. With a soft look within them his lips formed a little smile as she struck. So perfect, so utterly vicious. And it was in that moment that he truly knew she was, at least in some degree, coming back to her old self. As her boots made contact with his stomach she pushed him down with immense force towards the ground. A scream couldn't be helped as his back touched it and her silver heals sank into his flesh all the way in drawing blood. Dust and dirt rose after the impact similar to a comet's impact before forging a deep whole in its place. Motionless Alucard lay at the bottom crimson all around his body in a quickly growing pool of blood, almost dead like when in fact he was simply buying his time.

"Ma…..mast..er…." Seras whispered crouching down next to his head. Her body trembled, head throbbing immensely. A speak of sanity reflected itself within her eyes briefly. Her hands gently cupped his face as she leaned in almost close enough to brush her rosy lips against his pale ones. Thick smoke continued to provide shelter from on looking viewers. Barely a second passed before she felt threatened by the sudden chill going down her spine. Quickly pulling back her pupils dilated in shock from the dagger like shadows which easily ripped their way through her abdomen. Crimson left her mouth, dripping down her chin and partially staining his face with different size droplets. The blackness then retracted but not before the very end of it wrapped itself around her waist. Her own scream then followed as she was hurled up into the air in a way much like she had done with him. Escaping from the cloud, her bleeding form was held for all to see. A second howl of pain was heard short after as she was run through once again.

"Ahhh!"

And the torment kept on coming. She was literally used like a flyswatter against a fly that was in reality the courtyard's hard soil then just as swiftly discarded.

"Now, fight me properly draculina! I wish to enjoy this thoroughly!"

Alucard lashed at his prey with a mist of pure ebony surrounding his body before the man disappeared and the beast came out. The giant form, although not that of his trusted familiar but the huge wolf like creature, continued the pursuit with ease. Its claws dug deeply into the soil as he took step after step while charging forward with great speed and ferocity. Meanwhile, finally free of the hold upon her and bleeding quite heavily, Seras's body trembles as she struggled on all fours to get up. The horrible pain gripping her head brought increasing detraction. The wolf's howl alerted her just in time before its claws could reach her thus causing the upcoming paw and talons to clash against another, black against gold. She too morphed taking a new shape. The golden fox began confronting the midnight black wolf in a kill or be killed situation. The fight raged on as sharp teeth and full body strength were added. Animalistic growls and howls could be heard for miles away from both pain and anger, the sound of ripping fur and breaking bone alike. And seeing that nine tails are better than just one, why not use it?

As the giant wolf's mouth continued to clamp down upon the back of her neck it let the razor sharp, dagger like teeth pierce skin and bone alike. Seras's eyes flashed brightly before taking a swing at his left side with three of the closest tails. Quickly raising the soft golden tips suddenly changed and lengthened in whip like fashion before cutting not only the air as they came down but his back and side as well. Crimson gushed out of the three formed wounds and started dripping onto the already soaked grass beneath. Though hardly enough to make him let go, it was sufficient to break the death like grip so she could turn her body while hauling a large piece of broken rock at him with another tail. Hitting the weak point that was his already injured left thigh form a previous bite she finally succeeded in escaping. Unfortunately, her neck had severely been damaged: blood vessels and windpipe alike making her caught and spit up blood. It was all he needed to attack again. Not even the limping hind leg held of any importance any longer.

And as he came, the only thing saving her neck from a second bite was the whip sticking at his face directly over his eyes. Bodies now close enough too touch, their eyes locked on each other once the elder reopened beneath a coat of seeping red. Seras charged sticking her head directly into the middle of the left side of his torso and at the same time she morphed her body back to its human shape and had a go at him with the scythe in the exact same place. The tip embedded itself deeply within his ribcage leaving a long and deep gash. The force of the impact propelled him backwards a good rage away. His claws dug in deeply leaving marks in his path as he used them to halt his movement. All the while a swirling mass of darkness began surrounding him until nothing remained but a pair of dangerous blood red eyes and frightening growls. The rest surrendered to the darkness as the monster withdrew back into the man. He stood in a hunched over position with his knees partially bent and right arm moving from the front around his side till it abruptly came to a halt just above his spine. The leather jacket's ripped sleeve shifted in the wind, the straps almost all undone. Long raven hair hung over his bent head and a thick silver pole rested between his gloved fingers. And as a few strands uncovered his hidden jaw, his lips formed a wicked evil grin. Deep, insane laughter followed shortly. It was almost too fun. And how he loved it.

[Vampire!] The Frenchman's voice ripped through the insanity possessing his mind in a futile attempt to end it all.

"You're mine draculina!" Alucard screamed like mad propelling himself forward straight towards his victim. He was upon her in less than a second as the scent of her unique blood guided him. His right arm swung with great force thus piercing the concrete of the stairs she had momentarily taken refuge at. It shattered with ease while the wind intensified according to his wishes to finally be rid of the unwanted smoke marring the air.

"Alucard!" In the end it was Integra's scream that succeeded in snapping him out sheer madness. She looked upon the scene from the giant hole in the western wall. She would have gotten further had she not been stopped by the faithful butler. "No." Walter said pulling her back and locking eyes with her for but a brief moment. He then rushed by heading straight for the undead creatures ready to intervene if necessary. "Watch her! He told the closest soldiers as he passed them, their guns pointed and ready to fire if necessary despite their obvious frightened state.

For but a moment the battle seemed to have come to an end. All became quite. The fallen beauty lay out before him. Her battered body rested upon the bottom stairs of the mansion's entrance with a large amount of crimson staining them as it pooled beneath her waist and torso. Her left arm hung over her waist, legs joined at the knees but apart at the calves with the sols of her feet on different steps and the right arm slightly bent at the elbow thus allowing her palm and fingers to gently press against the middle of his chest. The elder's frame hovered over her as the concrete imbedded pole just next to her head offered a point of support. His midnight black locks hung around either side of his face. The tips were left to be coated by her still spilling nectar. His mischievous Cheshire cat grin couldn't be wider.

"Ma…..mast..er…." She silently whispered in between coughs and deep erratic breaths. The image before her cleared up just a bit. His strong arms encircled her. The right cupping the left side of her face and most upper part of her throat while the left took up residence over the small of her back, fingers widely spread over it. His head leaned down allowing their foreheads to touch. The expression marring his face became a much gentler one and so he used the opportunity to breach her barriers once more. And there were images this time, flashes which popped up then disappeared quickly. He couldn't quite make heads or tails of them. What he did get, though, was her intense emotional state. There was so much anger and confusion; an intense desire to kill.

/Ce s-a intamplat? Spune-mi!/ He asked feeling through the link that his words had some sort of effect. Seras's body trembled within his grasp and the picture of a bloody wave suddenly hit his mind. Screams and gunshots followed, two bodies in a mass of crimson with two different dark figures laughing in the background laughing. They were slowly taking shape when everything suddenly turned black. Both his ears and his senses picked up the sound of her oncoming scream long before it left her mouth. He body arched within his grasp and he was violently shoved out of her subconscious. "Seras!"

Seras's left eyes blacked like the right and the stairs all cracked from the energy she released. A horrible felling overtook everything he felt coming off her and before he even registered what had happened, the draculina pierced his chest going straight for his heart. Her right hand came out on the other side in a gush of crimson liquid. Right after her left foot connected with the lower art of his abdomen and flung him over her head while at the same time pulling her arm out of his torso. She then continued to scream uncontrollably.

"Off! Off! Get ooofffff!"

"Alucard!" Walter came in rushing, his wires surrounding her body. Unfortunately, his one effort in helping only ended in aggravating everything. The draculina abruptly opened her half lidded eyes at the new aura nearby. Furry raged within them causing them to narrow in seconds while her left hand grabbed a tight hold of the flesh cutting instruments and pulled with all her might. The former angel of death could not withstand her attack. His legs gave way losing their strength to keep in grounded and at a safe distance. Her fist came crashing down at him with deadly accuracy. Somehow, he managed to capture it in the very last second with his wires and redirect it away from himself and towards the ground. A cloud of dust rose from the force of impact. After that Seras quickly turned her body around using her arm as leverage and struck him in the left cheek with the side of boot as hard as possible. The impact shattered his jaw as soon as it touched it. The wires connected them still and were quickly used against him to pull him back towards her for a second, if not finishing blow.

"Seras!" Alucard grabbed hold of the lines with his right hand acting like a pillar to change the trajectory. The wires cut deeply into the fabric of his gloves and skin tainting them red. Walter's body hit the ground hard on his left injured side. Alucard shifted his head meeting her eyes, her body so close nothing but a sheet of paper could fit between them. One arm automatically went around her waist to grab hold yet it only met air and a dissipating mass of darkness. It was too late. He remained there motionless letting the mist pass between his fingers unable to change what was about to take place when the sudden scent of freshly spilled blood in large amount assaulted his nose.

"Walter!" He heard Integra's voice just as he jerked his head back catching the final movement the draculina's body made form the corner of his eye. The long ebony strands of hair parted over his face revealing the obvious end, the obvious kill. Walter's nose bled and his jaw felt as if hit by a block of concrete. His body had continued its path through the air till the moment the ancient vampire intervened. He fell on his left side his shoulder having absorbed most of the damage. The sudden pain in his jaw indicated it's broken state. And for a moment he could only think of how long it would take for it to fully heal. That is until he felt his neck pushed back and give an almost snapping sound as Seras's leg pushed and put pressure on his face sandwiching it between the hard soil and black leather of her boot. She'd descended on him so fast there was little anyone could do now. It only took a blow.

The black haired boy watched through half lidded deep violet eyes as Seras's shadow moved over the soil indicating her actions. Her arm rose, the shadows shifted and silence followed. The very last thing his mind picked up was the horrifying and terrified scream calling his name in utter desperation and the sudden burst of crimson liquid making its way between his fallen body and her running figure. There was no pain whatsoever. Nothing at all. Just silence.

"WALTER!"

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To be continued.

SO that's for the first chapter. I'll be working on the second so until then please read and review. :):)

bye, bye shadow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2-New chapter  
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_Bip…..bip…bip…_

The blip-ping sound of a steady heart monitor went on for hours, one blip after another. Connected to the unconscious short black haired boy it faithfully displayed his still functional heart despite it being far from the regular pace of 75/min. It barely got up to 30-35. An oxygen mask covered his face, his warm breath fogging it up with each exhale. He had an IV line in his left arm; chest, abdomen, shoulders and throat all bandaged though only the bandages on the latter were showing due to the blanket covering the rest of him. His encounter with the female vampire had been swift yet brutal. There were claw marks which marred the skin of his chest and a deep wound on the left side of his abdomen where he had been run through. The left side of his face was also bandaged and the jaw wired shut to help the broken bones refuse together. Integra sat by his side holding his right hand. The night was finally at an end as the first raise of sunlight grazed the horizon. Her forehead leaned against her left fist while her right thumb gently caressed the back of his hand. Her skin looked incredibly pale while her breathing was somewhat elaborate and her body crippled from exhaustion. She stood there in complete silence until she simply couldn't take it any longer and got up from the chair she was sitting it. Her legs felt horribly weak and she had to turn slowly while holding onto the bed for support.

"He'll live." Said the deep and baritone voice almost as if nothing had happened at all. It came out of nowhere until seconds later when the elder vampire made his appearance next to her.

"Yes. Yes he will." came her reply just before her fist made contact with the right side of his cheek. "You glorified **bastard**!" She hissed full of repressed anger. The vampire only looked at her from the corner of his right eye not bothering to turn his head properly. His long ebony hair framed his pale face and a makeshift bandage was wrapped around his throat with a large blood stain on it. More wounds remained hidden deeply beneath his many layers of clothing. None of them seemed to have healed properly since being made. His clothing was back to normal, black suit and read leather coat.

Integra's hand took hold his jacket, icy blue eyes narrowed with anger written all over her once saddened face as she continued to speak.

"She almost killed him and you just stood there? **You stood there**! I should fill your god damned head with silver! Why? Why the hell didn't you stop her?"

"He got in the way." Alucard said calmly.

"In the way? He was doing his job unlike you! And now he's there dying! I'll have her head for this! Both of you….you, you did nothing! **Nothing**!" She shouted until her lungs could no more.

Clear tears of anger began running down her cheeks as she took in a few desperately needed breaths of air and continued to pull on his clothing with what little strength she had left while he remained passive. "I have to watch him just lye there and clean up your damn messes again and again. I swear to god I'll destroy her if Walter doesn't get better! Do you hear me vampire? I'll wipe her miserable existence from the face of this retched earth and have you watch!" She was screaming so loud by now that her body shook from the force of it and her shoulders trembled. Her chest moved frantically up and down trying to calm her raging heart beat.

"If you let him die…." Her voice eventually faded to a whisper and her head leaned against his strong, broad chest. Crystal clear tears trickled down the sides of her face before they dripped in rapid succession. Her free arm went around her stomach. "I….I can't….."

The shaking increased as despair took over rage. She sobbed unable to control herself any longer. Her tears soaked the front part of his white shirt through the partially opened black jacket.

"I can't watch him die…I don't ahhh…." She suddenly groaned in pain mid sentence clenching her stomach tighter. "Hhnmm….ahh…." the twinge intensified focusing on her lower abdomen; it caused her to bend over in pain.

Alucard's arms instantly moved around her effortlessly picking her up bridal style and placing her on the neighboring bed. And she looked down to find her pants stained in blood, the stain growing before her eyes. "No no….nn… Alucard..." She whispered crying a river through desperate eyes. Her hands clutched to his arms in a vice like grip. She didn't know what else to do in her panic but turn to the one she'd been screaming at moments ago. The vampire's left hand touched her forehead and the right her lower abdomen. He immediately picked up on the distress raging its way within her.

"You're loosing the child." His words hit her hard making her gasp out loud and have her eyes widening in unmistakable fear. The intense stress she'd gone through all night had finally taken its toll. Her pregnancy had already been classified as high risk due to the rare condition she suffered from barely two months ago.

Flashback

"_What do you mean not normal? You told me a few days ago it was fine. The baby was fine."_

"_And still is. The problem doesn't lay with the child but you Sir Hellsing. According to the ultrasound results you have a condition know as Placenta Praevia and are therefore at a high risk for not only a premature labor if not possible abortion but also severe bleeding. It is why you bled out this morning. The placenta normally attaches itself to the uterine wall, however, in cases such as this it far lower inserted, on the cervix to be exact. You're barely 4 months along and this is the third time this has happened. The only treatment I can offer you at this point is to no longer subject your body to high levels of stress, activity or trauma I can't assure you otherwise you won't lose the child despite our interventions._

Flashback end

"No….No!" She screamed indivertibly placing her right hand over the one the vampire had on her belly and entwining their fingers together in a tight grip. "I'm not loosing my child!" her face barred the same determination her blue irises showed. Blood marred the sheets she sat upon. The pain in her lower abdomen increased tenfold.

"You will." He spoke softly with words that freely revealed a sadness and yet a definite confirmation within them.

The two faced each other off, crimson set upon azure. "No I **won't**." Integra replied in a very firm commanding tone. Fire consumed her eyes, the sparkle of hope peeking Alucard's interest immediately. His studied her intently before shifting in glee. His lips curled back in a small yet quite mischievous smile that became a grin then full fledged laughter.

"**You** would ask such a thing my master?" His chuckling filled the entire room drowning out the fainter blips. "Really?"

"I might." She said turning her gaze towards the unconscious boy lying motionless and dead like on the bed next to her. {Damn it!} Integra lowered her chin clenching her teeth tightly against each other. Another wave of excruciating pain hit her.

"No you won't. You're a Hellsing." Alucard whispered against her right ear with morbid satisfaction while continuing to grin. The situation could not be more ironic.

"I'm a mother!" She screamed back at him from the pit of her lungs grabbing his collar and bringing him close enough so their faces almost touched. "I'm a mother first. I'd rather suffer and gravel at your feet before acknowledging such a loss." Inhaling deeply she carried on. "Either of them."

"The floor's but a move away."

Integra chuckled no longer able to control her rapid breathing any longer nor the groan of pain as her ordeal went on unchanged. Despite it all, she didn't back down.

"And, my I say, I can wait while you are rapidly running out of time _my master_." The vampire pushed the hand from his throat straitening his posture beside the bed. Afterwards he too stood there motionless in what seemed full intent on leaving her to her fate. "However…." he continued a moment later. "The child's aura is strong. It could be interesting, very interesting indeed."

Sniggering he let the white gloves covering his left hand fade into nothingness. The nail on his left index finger lengthened into a sharp talon which he then brought up to his right wrist. He waited for the knight to speak but her lips remained sealed except for the sound of her elaborate breathing.

"Then I will ask. One day my master, I will ask make no mistake about it." The talon made a simple yet deep cut along the upper underside of his wrist. 2 cm long it bled out immediately. After that he brought it right in front of Integra's lips. "The choice is yours, risks including. Everything has a _price_."

Several seconds passed allowing the ancient blood to move over his skin and drip down onto the already stained sheets before she grabbed hold of his underarm and placed her lips over the seeping wound. The effect was immediate in stopping both the pain and bleeding her body endured. Alucard let her feed a little bit more before bringing it to an end. The cut healed with ease. Using slight pressure on one shoulder he made her lie back down. Her mind felt hazy from the potent drug within her system. It was the very first time since meeting him more than half a century ago that she actually shared some of **his** blood, even more, **dared** to consume it. Her temperature rose causing her cheeks to blush and her pupils to visibly dilate. Not until the cool touch his hand provided upon her forehead did her battered body's state start reverting back to normal. Her right hand went to her lower abdomen as she exhaled deeply. The intense, excruciating pain began to fade.

"Your child is fine." Alucard said in a gentler tone. He watched for a moment then turned facing one of the windows. His steps didn't make a sound. His frame cast a large shadow on the bed she was lying in.

"For now?" Integra whispered looking at the ceiling. Uncertainty lined each of her words.

"For now." He confirmed. "There is no real guaranty, much less for a Hellsing. We are after all incompatible in means of blood. However…" he grins and offered a swift sideway glance back towards her. "….time will tell, time will tell."

Their conversation was interrupted by several knocks on the door. Someone on the other side tried opening it but it remained shut.

"Sir Hellsing…"

"Not now." She said but the person's persistence had her raise it up a notch. "I said not now!" It actually came out as an angry scream. Seeing him was the last thing she had on her mind right now. "Damn bastard." Her head throbbed.

"I can assume, _my master_, that our earlier discussion will be _reconsidered_?" the way in which he spoke those words had her cursing at herself. Could he be more manipulative than that?

/ It answers itself./ Yes. Yes he could.

"Then what did she do vampire? Can **you** answer **me **that?"

"Perhaps. Until then I suggest asking someone else that same question." Alucard produced a small vial filled containing the remains of a dark red liquid and placed it on top of the windowsill. "It was in her blood. It tampered with her mind in a way I couldn't understand, not until I forced it open. It made her see things, remember others. It's Schrődinger's."

The look in his magenta colored eyes got serious as he turned his head back to her. Integra got up as well but remained in a seated position. Her own expression immediately changed as well. "She hid it from me. Too well might I ad; everything about her past. Such a cunning little creature." He chuckle lightly in amusement at the interesting turn of events. "A blood blond should have revealed it all…." He murmured to himself getting lost in that particular train of thoughts.

"Alucard." He didn't listen.

"She died, apparently far sooner then when I ended her life."

"Schrődinger is dead." Integra said again a bit louder and harsher. "You should know."

"Yet '_nowhere_ and _everywhere'_ stands before your very eyes."

The young knight didn't reply straight away. However, when she did, the words held profound meaning. "You needed 30 years."

The two locked eyes for a moment simply starring at each other. Buried somewhere within the molten pools of lava, sky clear blue clearly saw what didn't need to be spoken out loud.

"You should not think for a moment she's in better shape than Walter. But, as you can see, neither am I." He turned and faced her fully pulling at the collar of his shirt and bandage at the same time revealing his injured throat. Two deep cuts marred the side of his throat, their healing going slow, very slow. "Would I not be in a position which didn't require actual breathing I most surely would have drowned in my own blood, how very ironic?" He smirked, eyes taking that well known look of madness within them. "She's beyond her age. All this time I watched her I always thought her humanity was repressing her darker nature when instead her very nature is that dark side. She's willingly repressed those feelings and memories so much that I had to break her to get to them and calm her down. I fought myself but Seras didn't have that privilege. We were in the way and so she could only fight back, she could only fight us."

"What did you do vampire?" Integra's question followed once his words died out. She left the bed behind walking carefully right behind him. Her right hand held onto the bedpost for support. " Alucard?"

"I broke her." Alucard paused for a moment, allowing her a second to absorb the information. "Broke her body, then her mind and made her submit. What you may have had planed for her will not happen. You will stay away from her master, an advice I gave you a while ago if you remember? Seras's subconscious is shattered. You would not whish to fully understand the things I had to do to her or the ones she did at the club. She may not recover at all, she's too young."

"You forced her?"

"I had to."

"Even after….." If any to know about the draculina's true past, Integra was one, better said the only one who knew the truth; the real truth.

Alucard didn't respond but his silence was more than enough. His eyes narrowed at the thought it, at the thought of not knowing such a thing considering his own troubled past….his _shared_ past.

"I will take her home." He said in the end turning to walk away. A black, swirling portal appeared on the nearest wall before him.

"It's not an option."

"It will be as soon as she wakes." He went through it. At the same time Walter's fingers began to twitch.

Alucard slowly walked down the path leading to his chambers within the bowels of the large dungeon. His steps moved completely silent as the sols of his feet barely seemed to make contact with the stone floor. As he got closer the aftermath of the night's events still haunted the dark corners of his mind. And the closer he got, the more blood stained the corridors, the floor and walls. Bits of ruble fallen from the structures cracked under the pressure of his weight as he walked over the mixture of crimson, rock and dust. Reaching the steel door to his room, or better said its remains; he kept it in sight a few seconds more remembering the feel of the cold metal pressed against his face before his powers ruined it. The few things once decorating his room were now in total disarray ripped, broken or shredded.

_Flashback _

_Seras's body flew with great speed into the small table next to his large chair and broke it instantly before crashing against the thick, stone wall behind it. Alucard's right hand held her immobilized in place right after and firmly choked the last bit of air out of her lungs while various shadows kept her immobilized with an iron steel grip. His ebony hair could hardly stand out from the darkness surrounding them like a blanket of death. The two glowing orbs, once his beautiful in crimson color, now burned like the deepest pits of Hell. He had unleashed his fury and there was definitely no going back._

"_Submit or I will show you true despair draculina." His voice lacked the gentle tone always used on her. His face was only inches away from hers. The draculina's lips pulled back in an evil sneer. Her mind and body both continued to resist against his intrusion and efforts. She was still unable to properly register **his** presents, **him**, above anything else. The vampire released the hold on her throat to reposition her body in a state far more suited to his advantage. But then something happened. For just a second her eyes shifted to their normal color and her struggling ceased. Her chest was pressed hard against the cold blocks with his left elbow applying pressure directly over the middle of her spine as he kept her body twisted at just precisely the right angle to cause pain. Her hips were raised as the position forced all the weight of her body to rest on the wounded and dislocated right knee, also bent and forced at an abnormal position by his legs wrapped around them. The other limb had been incapacitated just like her arms: the right under her and the left pulled back to the breaking point and held at the wrist. _

"_Dra….cu…l…in…..a…" the voice he heard was nothing like that of the vampire he knew. It lacked even in association with the one during her most calm and gentle phases or those of her rage filled ones. This one sounded menacing and on the verge of full fledged dementia and yet, in a way, so very lost….disoriented about its very meaning.. It preceded an equally disturbing chuckle and laughter. "Dra….cu….lin….a…" she said again forcing her body to move forward so that her left shoulder gave a clear pop at being dislocated. Afterwards she stopped a second time yet didn't cease on laughing. Her body didn't even register the severe pain. Her laugh was infectious and depraved. The pain was relished._

"_Seras." Alucard spoke calmly and assertive not letting go._

"_Se….ra…aas…." She mimicked him in a seemingly mocking kind of way then began repeating it over and over. The very last came out as a prolonged moan as she turned her head and caught a glimpse of him from the corner of her onyx dyed left eye. "Sehrahshh…."_

"_Enough Victoria." Releasing her dislocated arm Alucard grabbed the young vampire by the back of her neck, pulled her up and turned her around so that her back faced his chest. "Now answer me. It's the last I ask." _

"_Serhrashh…."_

_Hissing against the bare skin of her throat he bared his blood stained fangs then brought them over it. It would only take one move to make her bleed again. _

"_Sehrhh..….m….maa..assster...Master…."_

"_Yes draculina?" He coaxed her into continuing, a glee in his tone at finally being called._

"_Master….master careless…." She mocked him further laughing against his chest with bloody-black irises shining in pure, deranged madness. A black swirling tendril had moved behind the distracted vampire during all this time. "Careless…" the tendril strikes but it blocked just before penetrating the left side of his back. Alucard seizes control crushing her body against the hard stone of the bloody floor; the slabs crack from the impact. _

_/So be it./ In that moment he jerks forward and latches his mouth against the right side of her throat. His teeth ravage her flesh in a brutal, violent way. He stormed her mind, he would take control using any means necessary. Her barriers shatter in one single brutal act as he penetrated the deepest, most hidden recess of her mind. Her entire being was under attack. Despite it all, there was no sound coming from her lips, hardly at all, as ripped her flesh apart; the scream only came when nothing more dare to stand in his path. _

"_Ahhhh!"_

_Once inside it all finally became clearer. Everything in her mind way dieing, burning away like paper caught in a blazing out of control fire. He could do **nothing** and had access to nothing for each time he tried the fragment he saw fell apart: again and again, over and over, and one after another. It was an all too known, an all too familiar scenario.. _

_**Everywhere….everywhere and nowhere…ha ha ha ha…..**_

_The haunting boyish voice echoed over and over till a violent contra attack from the young vampire stopped both of their actions. Seras began fighting his presents, a process which unfortunately, only fueled and accelerated the destruction_

_/ Stop. Seras stop!/ Alucard urged her on trying to salvage whatever was left of her sanity. /SERAS!/_

_Her mind pulsed with power bringing it all to an end. It began to cry, the memories literally dripping off the walls confining them._

_._

_._

_._

….wrong…..wrong…

_._

_._

_The words were light in sound as a feather; distant and deep, seemingly male._

_._

_._

…_**wrong….What the hell is wrong with you?**_

_They grew in strength and tone and became an anger filled scream. The voice belonged to a woman. A woman hidden in darkness whose silhouette changed from what it was into a small and frightened little creature marred by fear, hatred and rage and locked away in a dark closet forced to witness her parent's death; forced to fight to live and survive on her own from now on. The vampire saw everything from a third person's perspective: each image devastating the draculina more and more; each image a scar on her being. He had no motive to seek further as it was enough to understand that what he was witnessing had been buried incredibly deep; so deep it harbored between actual existence and fiction. It was a feeling well know; there are some things never meant for remembrance. _

"_**Did Seras cause more trouble again?" A male voice asked.**_

"_**Yes." A woman answered. "A boy stole her toy so she responded by hitting him with a rock. None of the teachers take kindly to her, the children more so. I suppose the effects of that night still haunt her, they haven't worn off yet."**_

"_**I see. But if she continues to do so we won't be able to provide care for her here any longer. She's been in four orphanages already. We can no accept such behavior any longer, it must stop."**_

"_**He started." The little one replied in a whisper no longer wishing to remain silent.**_

"_**A rock is not an answer Seras. All you do is fight."**_

"_**They keep taking my things."**_

"_**Your things are everyone's things. You should learn to share."**_

"_**I'll share when they damn well deserve it!" She rose her voice cursing. Fire burned in her beautiful azure eyes. "They make fun of me, why should I allow it? You don't know anything about me! What the hell do you know?"**_

"_**Enough!" He yelled loudly causing her to flinch. "Sister Beth, take her to her room where she will stay until she'll learned her lesson. No dinner tonight and if she continues you will she all her other privileges suspended till further notice. The toy will not be returned to her."**_

"_**Yes father."**_

_._

_._

_The memory faded before he got to see her respond and disapprove of their decision. Why were they taking everything away from her? Why?_

_._

_._

_._

"_**Seras…..Seras listen." **The image of the shadow covered man behind the large desk shifted into that of a woman with long blond hair and frightened sky blue seemed amazingly familiar but very lacking in that simple fire that defined his draculina so well._

"_**Do not move from here under any circumstances.**_

"_**Mom! Mom!" It all went silent until two shots were heard and the doors opened revealing the bloody mess. Two men with guns, one older in a brown suit and the second younger with a long red jacket, stood over her mothers corps. Grabbing the nearest object she could find, a fork, the little girl ran up to the men surprising them. She stabbed the younger in the right eyes in a fit of anger before being shot in the left side of her abdomen. The force of the last hurled her small frame backwards causing her to crash against the closet's doors. Blood gushed out of wound staining everything around her. She fell on the floor on her stomach with a loud thud while a pool of blood was promptly forming under her. **_

"_**Fuck! That little piece of shit!" He cursed. "My eye hurts so much."**_

"_**Let's get out of here!" **_

_**Seras's head moved up a bit at the sound of their voices, her vision beginning to blur and be bathe in red.**_

"_**He's not paid enough. I'm going to rape the old hag."**_

"_**Don't be an idiot she's already dead."**_

"_**And? She's still warm." said the one in the red jacket before starting with his gruesome task. **_

_Another scream broke the flow of images and the despondent laughter haunting her. Afterwards he watched the events before his arrival. There had been more, a lot more to her retribution then the picture he'd seen on onset. Angry? No. Brutal, vicious, no mercy, no regret? Yes. She'd reacted so much worse, far worse than during any previous battle. Truly, she had shown no forgiveness towards any living creature to dumb to get out of her way in time._

_**Seras, as he knew her, had unquestionably died. **_

_Flashback end_

Part of his attire vanished as he reached one of two coffins, one dark grey almost black and the other dark brow with large silver colored cross over the lid, leaving him in his boots, black pants and white undershirt. The lower part of the latter was still marred with crimson. He kneeled next to the first coffin. The lid opened revealing the draculina's body. Her long golden hair enclosed the crimson silk pillow and lining, one of his shirts acted like a pair of pajamas and most of her pale skin was covered in stained bandages: arms and legs all the way down to her ankles. Her eyes were closed and lips partially closed giving her a most peaceful look despite the lingering bruises. Her lower was cut and almost the entire right side of her throat was black-and-blue with the partially mark visible beneath the bandage he'd placed over. His right hand cupped the left side of her face and his thumb stroked gently over it. Both her mind and body had finally given up after hours of torment and she had completely lost consciousness. Concentrating the vampire closed his eyes and entered her sub consciousness. At first it was all dark and he found himself to be alone. There was absolutely nothing left. Then a room like structure began taking shape. "You've come again." The body of the Frenchman appeared before him. His left hand adjusting his hat as he stood to the vampire's right. A cigar hung between his lips, its white smoke rising into the air. "Do you still have something to do here? I thought you would be long finished by now."

"There is nothing to discus mercenary."

"Guess not." He agreed looking at him with his one good eye. The cigar dropped to the floor and was stomped by one of his feet. "After all, what else could you do? You shamed her, dishonored her in the worst possible ways. You have no shame, do you?"

"You could not control her, I did. As her master she will always obey."

"Then you should have at least kept your filthy hands to your self! Had you any sense of pride at all you wouldn't have forced yourself on her! For God's sake man she couldn't fight back any more!"

"I do not need lessons in morality from a mercenary." Alucard passed by him not bothering to look at him. His path, though, was abruptly blocked.

"You don't honestly expect me to let you in again, do you?"

The vampire narrowed his crimson eyes but didn't bother responding. He merely raised his left arm and waved it in a dismissive manner while he passed by the enraged mercenary. "Don't **you** DARE!" The latter shouted trying to grab hold of the disrespectful vampire.

Unfortunately, despite Pip's attempt to both follow and stop him, it was he himself whose actions were hindered this time. He realized far too late. "No!" His right fist slammed against the darkness separating them. "Leave her be! Misérable! You bastard stop!" His words died out. As for the vampire in question, after watching a second more from the corner of his left eye, Alucard urged his feet to move forward once again. He walked for what seemed to be a long time until another figure appeared in the darkness before him. It was the one who'd most shocked him the first time he came across it at that critical moment in time when Seras finally began calming down: himself. Or better said, the boy, the small piece of his soul he'd forever bestowed in her care: shoulder long ebony hair just now beginning to fall in waves with bangs covering his forehead. They ended with two thicker locks on either side of his face which framed it and obscured the front part of his ears. The rest of the raven mane stood arranged behind the latter.

Yet most sticking of all were the two deep ocean blue eyes which stared back at bloody crimson.

_Flashback_

_Do not cry…Do NOT cry…._

_Why can't they leave? I hate them….hate them_

…_.…don't cry….never…_

_Never again, don't cry._

_Mom…._

_Mom…_

_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry…_

_._

_._

_Seras's voice, though it sounded as if belonging to a much smaller and younger being, could not go unnoticed despite the mass of screaming echoing throughout the recess of her mind. The same words kept repeating over and over again and seemed to go on forever until they abruptly came to a halt. All that remained was the sound of a child's crying. _

_Alucard, as unexpectedly as it may seemed, suddenly found himself alone with not just one little human but two. 6 year old Seras cried her heart out, body quivering with the force of the sobs consuming her. A large pool of blood surrounded the tiny body closely and safely held by a figure that made him stop dead in his tracks. It was a boy. His hair as black as the night, wavy and long reached a little passed his shoulder blades with bangs that covered more than half his face. His frame was much larger than hers, at least twice her age, with simple clothing consisting out of a short, dark brow sleeved blouse and long black pants. Strangely, Alucard could not decipher the words coming out of his mouth despite plainly being able to see the boy's lips move just above the patch of short golden locks. He was holding her in his lap arms securely wrapped around her small body while her head rested under his chin, forehead pressed against the base of his throat. He could not see her hands but they were tightly gripping at the boy's shirt. _

_One step at a time the vampire approached and the closer he got, the more familiar the boy's hunched over position got. Alucard reached the very border formed by the pool of blood separating them. In that moment the body raised his head just enough so some of the ebony strands parted a clear path to his irises. They were a beautiful sea blue. _

_Flashback end_

Alucard narrowed his eyes lightly at the sight. He went in expecting nothing else in his path and instead was faced with his on mortality from another time. Childish laughter broke the connection between their eyes. A little girl popped up, running around for behind the silent and motionless boy till she eventually took notice of him and abruptly stopped. She wore a light blue sweater with longer sleeves than needed, a short pair of brown pants and shoes with blue socks. Her arms, still up from her running, dropped to either side of her body after she took notice of the intruder. She seemed so incredibly tiny compared to his much larger frame.

The vampire parted his pale lips ready to speak when she gasped in what appeared to be fear and quickly ducked back behind the boy's legs, small hands taking a firm hold on the fabric of his pants. He was her lifeline, her protection. Afterwards her head popped up again and large, innocent, blue eyes watched his every move. It was a simple gesture, yet one that reminded him of the time his Police girl had shared that particular color. Slowly, as no to frighten the little creature further, he kneels before her, left leg up with the right down supporting his weight. No words left his lips as he was content for the moment to merely examine her a little while longer. A little time passed before her eyelids closed and she graced him with a most happy and lovely smile; a genuine unafraid smile.

"Seras." Her name rolled off his lips in a gentle alluring whisper. He extended his right gloved hand towards her and held it up and opened for her to take should she choose to do so. "You should not stay here all alone. Will you come with me?"

The girl remained passive and focused on his face. Her grip unconsciously tightened around the boy's pants; she did not wish to let go.

The vampire's fangs revealed themselves further as he spoke capturing her interest entirely. Her head slightly tilted to the right in order to get an even better view. Alucard offered his Cheshire cat grin at this; it came slow and soft instead of its _usual_ way. Her reaction was a tad confusing for the old vampire as he didn't quite expect her small index finger to move up and touch her own teeth and a soft sigh of wonder to leave her lips. She was too focused on understanding that she missed the light flash of his crimson eyes and the light chuckle that left his lips.

"Will you little one? Despite your fear, will you follow me into the darkness?"

A small yip, as if out of fear, left her throat and she hid again for a second.

"It's all right I won't harm you Seras." Gentle and patient, his deep voice seemed to lure her in. his eyes were soft with no intention of malice in them whatsoever. They seemed….loving. "Come."

Still hesitant, the little girl took two tiny steps forward coming out of her hiding place. She cast a quick glace up at her defender who, all this time, had remained silent yet whose eyes never once left the elder's body. His body was partially covered by the dimness and shadows around them. Afterwards she walked up to him and carefully extended her right hand towards his. The difference couldn't be clearer as he took her tiny hand in his much larger one and willed her to come closer. It was a position similar to his first encounter with Integra decades ago only this time the girl's head barely went passed his knee. A few seconds more of holding her hand Alucard let go and allowed himself the small comfort of running the tips of his gloved fingers against her left cheek. His ruby irises saddened. He already knew her reply. Watching her provided the answer he'd been searching for. "You won't, will you little one?"

A light smile was his answer followed by the timid shaking of her head. Her laughter caught his attention immediately, her voice no longer in pain, scared or angry. It was kind and childish, angelic like. She acted fast and hugged him. Her short arms did their best to wrap themselves tight around his muscular throat. the sweet scent of her golden hair filled his nose; the embrace though, ended as fast as it began. With the bright smile still plastered on her face she let go and ran up to the boy taking his left hand in hers before embracing his legs from the right side once again. He offered a small smile of his own in return and patted her on the head twice before turning around ready to leave.

"Stai." Alucard said rising. There was, nor had there been any doubt in his mind regarding the use of that particular language. The boy _was_ **him**, the boy _was_ his **past**, he would understand. Their eyes met anew, the ocean faced the raging inferno. The boy gave a slight nod of his head before tugging gently at the little girl's right arm.

"Trebuie sa pleci." He said. The phrase used was short and to the point and this time the vampire heard every word. Both children then stepped into the darkness eating them up with Seras continuing to stare at him with a bright smile on her lips as she was pulled along by his younger, once innocent, self.

The moment ended with the vampire being jerked back into reality the very next moment. He was back in his room standing over Seras's open coffin while another set of sleepy crimson eyes starred back at him. They were as beautiful as ever. His right hand, still lingering on her cheek, continued its caressing motion in a soft and gentle manner as he watched her.

"Sleep my draculina. I will greet you when you wake."

Her eyelids closed as soon as those words parted from his lips and her entire body relaxed succumbing to much needed sleep. A while longer Alucard continued to stare at her before rising to his feet.

.

.

He closed the lid of the black coffin.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

First off, sorry about the long delay but I haven't really had the time to work much on this story. I have things to do at the university and it's taking up much of my time. However, I have planned some of the following chapters and written several ideas down.

So, thanks to all who've read and reviewed my story thus far and enjoy chapter 3 of **To die, to drown, to remember me.**

**Chapter 3  
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It had been a little over 8 weeks now since that fateful incident at the Hellsing manor. Things had quieted down especially during the first month but escalated once again these last two weeks due to an unusual number of freak activity. As for the vampires themselves and the angel of death, their wounds had also healed. Walter woke a few days after Alucard's visit and lived just as he'd predicted. He's recovery went slow but he pulled through and step by step he succeed in resuming his duties. Seras, on the other hand, continued to sleep.

"Target has been silenced master."

"Problems?"

"Nothing I could not take of."

"You may do as you please for the rest of the night then Alucard. I don't have anything else for you tonight."

Seven and a half months in, Integra's pregnancy stood out far more and made it tad harder to either sit or get up; her clothes baggier than ever. So far nothing wrong has happened after consuming some of the vampire's blood.

"There is something my master."

"What?" Integra raised her head from the paperwork she was doing. She was startled to see a different male figure pass through the wall of her office. It was a tall vampire. Though a tad shorter than Alucard, he was in no way less imposing or in obvious demand for respect. The black jacket he wore had a zipper on the left side that went all the way up to his neck and a color that stood out against the other, dark brown one, belonging to his pants. Back shoos, mid shoulder long ebony hair tied in the back with a brown ribbon and piercing, crimson eyes finished off his distinguished look. Her icy blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"It's safe to say he's more than _something_ Alucard."

"An acquaintance, a very old acquaintance." The old vampire said seriously.

"Of course. You wouldn't bring just _any_ old vampire into a hunter's lair." Her words burned full of sarcasm yet continued to amuse the vampire who chuckled upon hearing them. "But the question still remains why?"

Alucard stayed silent still smiling an evil smile.

"And?" Integra questioned raising her tone of voice a little.

"He is the last vampire left in the city. Has been for a while which means every mission I've been sent on lately was done by freaks." He became serious. " There have been too many for it to be a mere coincidence."

"And you brought him here just for?... "

"He has a debt to pay but that is beside the point. He has been gathering information on my behalf, on _that_ blood to be more precise. It's not Iscariot."

"I see."

"I request his presence here."

That sentence had the knight narrow her eyes in displeasure. "That is not acceptable."

"I require it." He spoke firm and seriously. "I must be here when at the same time I can't. He will remedy that. I consider it fair payment, more than fair."

/ You owe a life master, or should I not remind you of it?/ Alucard mentally projected taking her by surprise. Fortunately, she did not let it manifest on the outside whatsoever.

{Do not bring that up!}

/ I'll do it if I damn well please _my __master_. We had a deal concerning Seras and you will see it through./

"When?" She said out loud assertively.

"Soon." Came his plain answer. Integra took a moment while basking in the silence left by his words. Her sky blue gaze remained steady and focused. She finally spoke eying the new arrival.

"Vampire. You have a name I presume?"

"I do." The vampire replied and took a graceful bow before presenting himself. His voice deep, words perfect as they rolled off his tongue despite the language used. It was clear he had had a long time to learn and perfect himself. "I am, by your custom, Nicolae Ion Ichim, turned in the late 16hundreds in Wallachia.

"Sir Integra S. Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing." She replied in a firm tone. "Leader of the Hellsing Organization and as long as you stay under this roof you will do it, willing or not, according to the rules I set. You are not allowed to feed or harm any of the humans residing here. Should you be in need of nourishment Walter will see to it. However, should you be in a position requiring you to leave the premises to feed I request that you do it as quietly as possible with…."

"A minimum of casualties." He finished.

"Respect that and there won't be any tribulation."

"Agreed."

The knight nodded then turned to look at the elder. {Keep him out of trouble!}

He in turn did not need to give an answer. She already knew. "Good. Now get the hell out of my office!"

"As you wish _Sir_ Hellsing." Alucard said bowing as well before leaving the office. Nicolae followed and Integra was left alone. At least for a little while; a knock at her door had her attention shortly after their departure.

"What is it Walter?" She asked in no need of knowing who it was. She tuned her seat around to be in front of the nearest window leaving her paperwork behind. She clearly saw the silhouettes of the vampires reappear in the large garden somewhere near the end of her vision span just as the door closed behind the former angel. The deep red clothed silhouette was easily noticeable despite the distance.

"Merely checking on the situation. The lack of screaming between you two was almost shocking." He answered in a playful manner doing his best to keep a smile on his face while speaking and coming up behind her. His jaw still hurt and still needed time to heal fully. The wires had been removed for about 5 days and as such practice was needed although it wasn't as easy as one might think.

"You saw _what_ he brought in today?"

"No gunshots either, quite impressive. And yes I did." He continued to smile.

"Stop smiling Walter." She said looking over her shoulder at him with an almost blank look within her azure eye. He was back to wearing his own clothes and quite frankly happy to be out of the clinic ones. He wore a pair of dark violet pants, black shoes, west and tie. The striped shirt was now a plain white one. He had yet to let hi hair grow but the short rather messy style framed his smiling face quite beautifully. Integra's eyes lost their harshness and turned sad and understanding. He was struggling and she knew it, saw it far too well for her liking. Her left arm reached out and pressed her hand gently over his flat stomach; fingers spread wide and open palm right over the large scar left behind. His body was warm to the touch, warm and alive, unlike that night so cold, so still…lifeless...

"Stop that." Walter said bringing her out the trance. She didn't even register her eyes watering, shoulders slouching or the small tremble in the hand pressed so closely to him. Everything, everything since that night haunted her more badly than anything she'd ever witnessed or endured in both lifetimes: cold, lifeless, dead…dead...DEAD...

She gasped looking up as his right hand moved over hers and gently removed it from his stomach. "You've seen far worse." He spoke almost casually as though almost meeting his death meant nothing at all.

"No." she countered right away. "It's not the same."

"Everything is the same."

"It's not!" she shouted while standing up from her chair and slapping him. Her chair slides back while her hand made quick yet harsh contact with his left cheek. His dark violet eyes closed, his breath hitched for a moment and his lips held back the painful sounding groan from escaping. She'd hit the exact same spot Seras had completely broken and not just in one clean piece. He'd needed extensive surgery to fix and reattach the broken pieces together. The very next moment he had her arms warped up tightly round his wrist, head buried in the crook of h neck. Her fingers gripped at the black vest he wore in between his shoulder blades as if trying to confirm there was actually something beneath their grasp. It could never be the same, not now, not after the compromise she'd had to make. If he already knew then he'd yet to say anything about the matter but considering he might not would, no should, he be told regardless?

"I'm sorry." She whispered against his ear. "I'm so sorry." the warmth of her breath now caressed the point of contact, shooting the sting caused by her hand.

He paused and considered his next words carefully before speaking.

"Why won't you tell me? What you did?" his hands wandered up her upper arms before stopping over her shoulders molding them into their shape. "I've always known, I raised you, now tell me."

"I can not."

"Tell me."

"Please understand." She asked of him bent on not saying more. For now at least. "Please?"

Walter's eyes narrowed at hearing those words. She'd rarely, if ever used such a tone: a desperate plea hidden beneath a simple and calm question yet so obvious it only raised more questions than answers. He sighed quietly to himself making a mental note to question her further one day and pushed her back gently. Their eyes locked but he remained quite. The pain in his jaw was now light throbbing but he wouldn't speak much more this day until it stopped completely. Instead he merely kissed her forehead, cupped her face and smiled a soft loving smile. His thumbs caressed her cheeks lightly.

.

.

.

"I love you." Integra whispered tenderly despite it being somewhat difficult to hear due to her very light tone. His eyes reopened ending the smile but continued to remain soft and gentle. He nodded while letting both his gaze and right arm drop towards her growing stomach. He moved his hand with care over the visible swelling caring hi child, their child. Her own joined placing itself over his and squeezing tenderly.

"I'll take care of it." She said with confidence and determination. He smiled, knowing full well she wasn't _actually_ referring to baby growing within her.

"Yes, I know you will. But…"

"Trust me. It's been fine till now, it will be alright. I promise."

Both creatures of the night walked in silence under the light of the full moon and that of the small outdoor lights planted along the many snowy paths. Centuries had passed since their last encounter. Even so neither felt the necessary urge to debate to past experiences or accomplishments over the years. They walked in silence for more than half an hour taking the different paths spread though out the garden on by one.

"Quite interesting if I my say so, will you continue to stay?" Nicolae eventually asked breaking the silence.

"It has its moments. You recall I'm not quite partial to simply watching time fly by."

"Yes I remember. It has been quite long since our last conversation."

"Indeed."

"You mentioned in your letter it was important that I come. You've never asked in the past, not even for a mere debt. And…. " He stopped walking allowing the older vampire to continue by a few steps more before he too did the same. "…you've never referred to any of **them** as such before."

Alucard said nothing for a moment, simply looked on ahead. He then spoke in a low tone, hint of melancholy within it." It's been a very long time since one of our kind resurfaced in this world. A life much like ours, born for darkness with a path paved in blood from the very beginning. She rests at the moment."

"How old is she?"

"Ah." He had been wondering when that particular question would be asked. he mischievously replied: "Around four."

"Four?" The second vampire asked sounding somewhat confused. "Then isn't it too long for her to still be resting? A four century old vampire should be more than ready to stand on its own, especially one your bloodline. Heal even."

"Decades Nicolae. She is only four and a half _decades_ old." Nicolae simply stared not yet having understood the information just received.

"Decades? And you took her as your own?"

"What of it?" Alucard questioned slightly turning his head. His crimson irises shone in contrast to the black if his long hair revealing his lack disapproval at such an unimportant yet accusatory question. The younger smiled somewhat surprised by such a bold statement.

"In all truth I never expected you to take one so young. There are hardly a handful of vampires out there, myself included, that could ever possibly come to measure up to what you've become and you've rejected them all. For the power you hold you chose a mere child; a child who'll never be able to catch up and sustain a bond strong enough."

Alucard chuckled sounding quite mused at hearing such. "So now you doubt my ability to reason? What I choose to do and how I do it is my and my matter alone." His voice turned deep, a menacing undertone underneath. "You would be wise not to underestimate her. Many have and little remain to speak of it."

"I see." Nicolae replied in a similar tone. "Then it would be quite a sight to actually observe this vampire for myself, would it not? Tell me Alucard what is the name of this child you have chosen." It hadn't been that much of a question this time; more of a demanding request than an actual request. "You've neglected to reveal it thus far. She is English?"

"A protestant: a rebel in blood since birth. It suits her quite well."

"Her name." He pressed on well aware of the game being played.

"Yes her name." Alucard said acknowledging his request but deciding to maintain his desire to prolong the outcome. Recalling it and its past was always a pleasure he silently enjoyed reliving from time to time. "I never did use it until she was worthy of having it back. It took a while. Her name is….." He was on the verge of pronouncing it when something caught his attention. Instantly he knew it was time. His mate had awakened. And before he could be asked once more…. "Seras. Seras Victoria." Her name rolled like honey from his lips much like the way it did that very first time he'd spoken it out loud that night on the bloody battlefield decades ago. _Seras, Seras Victoria_ His crimson eyes softened a bit. Without needing to be told the younger vampire also sensed the change around them, the new aura slowly waking to life and the power it held behind it.

"Sera.…Seras Victoria?" Nicolae repeated with a bit of difficulty at first. "A strange name even for the English."

"Indeed. The one to be victorious perhaps? I do not know for certain. However, she does stand out far more than most humans I've met over the years. It was indeed a most interesting century."

"Don't you mean she **did** stand out?"

"Perhaps. I'll let you figure that out for yourself." Just like that Alucard faded away with his laughter the only element left as it lingered a few seconds more in cold winter night air. Nicolae continued to watch the spot the old vampire had occupied before vanishing. Very little of his behavior had change despite the long passage of time. He would take the opportunity to meet this _new_ creature, no doubt about it, perhaps indeed the very next night.

The dark brown coffin cracked open, the lid opening without as much as a single sound and with it Seras's body rose up. The last month and a haft of sleep had her disoriented and unsure of her surroundings. She looked around first letting her eyes adjust to the dim light of a small candle on the other side of the room then stood on wobbly feet before stepping out of the coffin itself. Her eyes hurt and deep down she knew her master had provided nothing but that small flicker to ease her way back into awareness. Both shirt and bandages continued to cover her. She sighed shaking the dizziness from her mind. She couldn't recall entering her coffin, couldn't recall what had happened. She had nothing but the dizziness, the sense of something lacking, something not right but her head didn't allow for more inquiries.

Once her eyes reopened she was finally able to properly inspect herself. Her hands went to unbutton the shirt by themselves and let it slide down her shoulders with ease to gather around her bare ankles. The bandages on her limbs came next, then her upper and lower body. Her throat was left last. It seemed this particular spot retained some degree of discomfort especially on the right side where her bite marks were. She touched it with the tips of her fingers only to find nothing out of the ordinary. There was nothing wrong with her skin, just the lingering sensation of discomfort and a feeling as though something bad had happened regarding that particular spot. She then brought both hands in front of her face recalling something out of the blue. They were clean this time except for one moment when an image of them completely covered in blood shot through her mind. She remained there motionless starring at then until something on the opposite wall caught her attention. Everything was like a blur, a foggy mist before her eyes. She could not see past her hands, could not make out the oncoming figure in the distance behind her.

A soft silk like fabric brushed along the tips of her shoulders startling her more. Two large hands covered in pristine white gloves, the ones responsible for the sudden act, then released the fabric and moved down over the most upper part of her arms. The all too familiar touch relaxed her in seconds. After a few more cm the hands went back up retracing their steps and moved behind her neck as to pull the mass of golden silk from under it. The cloth itself was actually a beautiful robe with long, large sleeves that reached all the way down to her ankles. Made out of a thin black transparent fabric it had a beautiful wide golden pattern sowed all over to compensate for the amount of exposed skin. As it stood on her body it covered almost everything except for the line of skin in between the two edges of the fabric itself. The valley of her breasts and all else exactly below it remained still very much exposed. Her arms entered the sleeves out of reflex, this had happened before.

"Draculina." Alucard whispered sensually in her right ear, his warm breath caressing her skin and fingers pressing once again upon her shoulders in the same tone and fashion he'd always used in the past while alone with her. His voice sounded raw and full of desire. Seras remained in a passive and unresponsive state a little while longer then gently crooked her head in his direction with a soft sigh passing over her lips. With little help from his hands she turned completely around facing him. Her eyes worked their way up to meet his, both a pure crimson with no trace darkness possessing them. Her vision cleared and both orbs continued their work, one bit at a time they slowly glanced over each and every inch of his handsome face. Her features were as beautiful as ever as she did so, especially now with sleepy eyes, parted pink full lips and slightly messy hair framing her angelic pale face. Afterwards her small left hand went to position itself against the muscles of his chest, the white opened shirt the only element separating her skin from his own, while the right hesitantly touched his left cheek with its fingertips. Moments passed before her body leaned against his and her head assumed its favorite position alongside his throat just under his jaw with her forehead pressed up against the underside it. Her fingers gripped the white shirt over his shoulder blades as her hand moved up tracing the contours of his chest. His scent filled her nostrils like a warm shooting blanket on a cold and frozen night.

"Master?" It was soft and gentle, a whisper, an acknowledgement within a question.

"Good evening little one." He purred and embraced her tightly running his left hand though her silky hair. He could feel her entire body relaxed and at peace with his presence. She began nuzzling his throat reflexively in search of the sweet crimson residing within. Her lips and tongue followed shortly in sampling the pale, tempting flesh just a taste away. She nibbled, licked, or took very small bites and was on the verge of just sinking her fangs within it when he stopped her.

"Imediat. Intâi trebuie să-ti amintesti de ce ai dormit si ce ai făcut."(In a moment. First I need you to remember why you've slept and what you did.) His muscular arms tightened their grip on her shoulders pushing her back just the right amount of space. His left had abandoned its spot in order to cup the side of her face and move her away from his throat. He was amused to see her mouth remain open and fangs lengthening in pure anticipation. Her mind hadn't yet registered he'd pushed her away. "Ce ai făcut?"(What did you do?)

Seras stood silent watching him.

"Ce ai făcut?" He asked a third time

Her eyes continued to remain hazy yet intently focused on his moving lips in evident fascination. She didn't answer. Instead she leaned more into his soft touch and welcoming touch bringing their lips closer and closer together. Their breaths soon became one; closer still. Her head tilted slightly allowing their lips to finally brush against each other in a tender cress. Her eyes were half lidded and full of want. The kiss itself lasted a moment long. She looked so beautiful with gold framing her face as she moved forward anew. Her lips danced softly over hiss own, little nips and caresses, never stopping once or breaking full contact. It was a temptation, a sin, far too great to pass and each time he gave in and moved his lips with hers she would sigh sensually and grip his shoulder tighter and look at him with that one accursed amazing gaze; that god like gaze filled with lust, passion and desire. Did she even know what she wanted? Did she even realize?

"Seras…" He purred sensually against her parted lips before sweeping his tongue over then, tasting her sweet flesh. It caught her attention immediately. "Ce ai făcut cu omul acela? Ce ai făcut pe urmă?" (What did you with that man? What did you do afterwards?) He repeated patiently. It had surprised him that she had failed to answer back properly, the way she always did when he'd call. The draculina's mouth continued to remain parted as though she were about to form the words and speak, about to answer. Unfortunately nothing came out.

"Seras." He changed tactics. Her name suddenly said in that different language confused her and it showed off clearly in her ruby orbs. An intense feeling of sadness suddenly washed over the elder vampire. His own eyes narrowed this time not in anger but in confusion, almost heartrending confusion.

"Nu intelegi ce spun?"(You don't understand?) He waited for several seconds more, waited for an answer that would not come. Therefore, he tried again in a different manner. A hint of sorrow lingered while following the tone of his voice. It could not and did not go unnoticed. "Do you understand me now?"

Seras lowered her gaze in return. Her answer was clear. She could not and clearly felt the sadness rising inside of him at the evident failure to comply. She let the fingers of her right hand wonder across his pale flesh from his cheek down his well defined jaw in a comforting caress. Afterwards it dropped completely to rest over the base of his throat where his red cravat lay.

"It's alright. You'll remember with time." Placing a chaste kiss on her forehead he repositioned her mouth against his throat. A little pressure from his fingers seemed to be coaxing her into biting down; however, those same fingers were the ones keeping her from achieving her goal. "Drink." She knew of what she'd done and refused. Could not...

"You must." Alucard urged while his breath caressed her right ear a second time. "That is your nature. That is the **true** Seras Victoria. You are as life made you to be, do not be afraid. You are true undead, Nosferatu, by the blood I've given you now drink and be full." The red of his eyes intensified turning into a deep scarlet. He felt her fangs lengthen against his fragile skin. "Yes go on little one. Feast upon your desire."

An almost growl like sound echoed from his chest the very moment he was pierced all the way. His fangs elongated in response going well passed his bottom lip in less than a second while his nostrils flared at her slightly heightened scent as he nuzzled the side of her face affectionately. At the same time Seas's nibble fingers began undoing the knot of his cravat with precise movements, more instinct than true understanding of what she was really doing; once finished it trailed the contours of his chest. Though the white shirt had always partially opened when assuming this particular state of dress, it was now buttoned all the way up. Half way down they stopped and went back up again in a quick and swift move. The tips of her fingers soon reached his muscular throat going from the left to the right side where they slightly increased the pressure upon his flesh. A small red stain appeared beneath them as her nails lightly scrapped it. She pulled him in closer biting harder, her lips parting to savor more of the highly potent taste. Her cheeks began to flush after a while as the blood began changing the very pale color of her skin into a creamier one, somewhat rosy if not a very pale version of rose. Whimpers left her throat each time she would swallow and move her stained lips over his flesh as more nectar flowed into her mouth. All the while the ancient vampire chuckled, deep and low. His amusement and pleasure both clearly visible. It had started out slowly as a mere chuckle that intensified more and more. Finally, after minutes long of intense feeding his young protégé the vampire cupped her cheeks and pushed her away by applying gentle pressure on her head. She sighed heavily in displeasure; a trickle marred the left corner of her mouth only to be silently removed seconds after by his very eager lips.

"As sinful as ever draculina," His hips pushed against hers, his arousal noticeable due to the lacking space amidst their bodies. She was practically sandwiched between his strong embrace and his ever warming frame. "How you tempt me…." He sensually purred with lust.

"Master?" She barely whispered, whimpered in return. However, it seemed enough to have him compose himself from the lust driven thoughts raging within the dark corners of his mind. It was no the time nor place. This time, as his eyes locked with hers, there was something different deeply about them. And so he asked once more.

"Who am I?"

"Master."

"Victoria!" Hissing directly over her parted lips he pressed them for but a moment against hers breaking the skin of her bottom one with his sharp fangs. His voice maintained its sensuality although it took on a much darker and sinister tone, a more dominant one that had her submitting to his will without delay. Her head tilted backwards as far as his left hand would allow it to move.

"Hhmm….yes?" She sighed with drowsy eyes answering him at last. Her frame faintly arched up into his, eyelids closing and lips parting even more before closing again.

"Who am I? Who rules over you little girl?"

"Master. My master." A scorching heat started building not only on the outside but the inside of her very soul as well. Her voice had a very low tone to it but sounded incredibly passionate. She remembered this; her blood remembered the scorching heat only he could ignite so brutally within her.

"Who?" It was a demand this time.

"Master….hmm Vl….Vlad?"

"A question? Should you be questioning your master **pet**? Answer me!" watching her irises dilate he abruptly pulled her head towards him positioning it in the exact place he well knew from experience drove her insane. Thus, nipping at the flesh of her cheek just next to her ear he took the lob between his lips and wasted no time in biting down. His right fang pierced just as easily as any needle would. Her blood, although small in quantity, was enough to make him growl like a beast as he sometimes would while in his familiar from. The vibrations of his chest spread over her skin like a lover's addictive caress. "To whom do you belong? Who owns you?" The warmth of his breath helped heat up her face especially over the parts he had already had the liberty and privilege of inspecting and sampling mere moments ago. The sheer power hidden behind those words had her sighing and painting in desperate need.

"Yo...you master….V...Vlad..." She was burning like a bonfire within his grasp, like a heretic tied to a stake and sentenced to death by fire. Unable to move, break free or live. Nothing to do but whimper, plead and in the end scream out to the unforgiving world clamming her very soul. And she was so very close he could feel it. Was he to push just a bit more…..and of course he would do just that.

"Who?" He had begun to shout and increase the hold he had on her fragile, exposed throat.

"Vlad..."

"Who?"

"Yo...ahmm..."

"Who draculina?" His baritone voice echoed throughout the entire room as well as the surrounding halls.

"You master!" She screamed her release from the consuming inferno raging within. He body fell against him tired, severely shaking and almost limb as her feet could no longer support her. "You…" He effortlessly held her up and maneuvered her body so her beautiful ruby eyes could cast their splendor upon his. "And who am I?" Once more he asked yet soft and gentle. His thumb held her chin up and his lips hovered mm above hers. His hot breath teased them as they parted. She watched through sleepy eyelids smiling sweetly and innocently. Her mouth then opened more to allow her words proper passage. Nothing came out the first time so she closed her eyes and tried a second time after they reopened. A whimper, a mere whisper...she looked so breathtaking...so beautiful...

"Domnul meu."

And he too smiled. Satisfaction within his orbs, he closed the distance between them and kissed her gently. They watched each other as neither wished to let go of the intense moment. Their lips moved in a slow gentle pace, passion growing quickly as their eyes finally began closing.

.

.

.

The following night things at the Hellsing Manor were both normal and a bit abnormal at the same time as now three vampires instead of two took up residence within its walls. It had been several hours now since two of the three undead residence had left with the sunset. Alucard my not have said exactly where, then again, there was only one place he'd ever referred to as home in all the ears they'd know him. The only place he'd take her. It wasn't that much of a secret. And so both Walter and Integra watched them leave silently and quietly while they worked in her office. It would certainly not be long until a certain _someone_ would take notice and ask questions, lots of unwanted question. They were almost done when the third visitor came creeping by.

"At least two down." Walter said not bothering to look up from the papers in his hands and acknowledge the vampire's presence.

"One plaything to go." Integra slightly turned her head to the side watching the newly arrived vampire before them very closely. "Just why aren't you there vampire? You've already bugged me way beyond annoyance for one night last night. Or is that the actual purpose of this delightful visit?"

"Ahm no." He replied with a smile on his lips. "I've been instructed to remain here for the next two nights then and only then return. I thought it best to pass the message on."

"Is that so? You're a bit late, don't you think? I've already been informed." She question further though this time with a lot less interest then at first.

"Be that as it may, I thought it proper. And as you yourself have told me, I took my business outside of the manor as requested. As for your first question, if it's to repay my debt then it is my duty to see it through Sir Integra. It was a direct request so I am bound to honor it."

"He is not your master. Or are you somewhat like Seras in that matter?"

"Children obey their parents. It's always been as such, duty. To a vampire a fledgling is bound to obey its master. But to _appropriately_ answer you, no, he is not my master. Even so a word given amongst gentlemen should be honored. "

"It was duty vampire. It's not any more, at lest not in this world. I'm sure you must have realized by now things are not the same and not as they were or will be ever again. People think differently and will continue to do so."

A small pause followed. "But as I've heard you say many times over these past days Sir Integra: we aren't people, are we? We may follow a different set of codes and rules but let me assure you we do follow them. I bid thee goodnight." With that he bowed much like the vampire in red would and vanished in the dark of the night.

"Delightful, wouldn't you agree?" Walter joked taking several more papers from her desk. Afterwards he turned heading for the office door.

"Like poison." Integra replied sarcastically with a sigh watching him retreat. She always did enjoy watching him do that; secretly of course. And the sigh wasn't what she tired making it to be.

"Stop that." He said with a smile mimicking her word from the previous night as he gripped the handle. His head partially turned just enough for her a cocky smirk over hiss lips. He knew exactly what she was doing. "It's impolite to stare milady."

"All the more to do so my angle." she said offering a dreamy smile in return. Yes it was _nice_, _very nice indeed._

Meanwhile, already several thousand miles away…

"Midnight's already passed. You won't see it." The deep baritone voice belonging to the raven haired vampire said from the darkness of the room. His silhouette could partially be seen standing in a living chair through the opened balcony door and the slow swaying thin curtains. Opposite of him stood the draculina leaning with her elbows against the metal railing and looking down. Just like the curtains, her long wild hair moved with the wind. She remained silent. Her outfit consisted out of a black suit with jacket and skirt, a long sleeved white shirt with the first two buttons opened underneath, no stockings and black high healed boots up to the knees and long crimson colored scarf around her throat. Without loosing sight of her the elder vampire, also wearing a black suit with a crimson shirt and black tie, stood up quietly and walked over towards her. His long ebony hair framed his pale face while another part it swayed with the breeze. The pair of orange glasses was halfway down his nose revealing a hypnotizing set of magma tainted irises, strong and ever vigilant.

"Maybe later. She responded changing positions and stepping aside avoiding the imminent contact. Her few words for this night.

"When we leave tomorrow….Seras…." His right hand reached out for her, fingers gently applying pressure upon her own right shoulder. The slight tremble of her body was easily felt despite his hand being removed.

"Why don't you stop and leave her be? Being all **nice** is hardly you." Pip appeared at her side, a mask of displeasure all over his face. A crooked cigar hung from his lips.

"Or will you just **damage** her again?" he positioned himself between the two. Seras remained detached throughout the whole display of power, no even bothering to turn around and face them.

"Look at her, what you did! She's afraid…."

"She's strong."

"I don't give a damn!" Pip shouted releasing all the pent-up rage he felt in one single punch that successfully ripped the vampire's glasses of his face. They fell, the lenses shattering upon impact. Afterwards he took him by the collar of his crimson shirt. "She's afraid of you! She's afraid yet you still use her! Use her and take her to your bed as if it were nothing! Look at her damn it, look at her!"

The one in question was moments from answering, lips parting to allow the right words to slip away. The expression on his face however, remained detached, unaffected.

"Snow…."it was merely a word but had both of their attention in seconds. Her head faced upwards towards the blackened night sky, her right hand palm up and covered in several large flakes. More continued to tough her gloved hand and fall from the sky as her arm lowered and was brought in front if her chest, eyes shifting to it at the same time a very light smiled gazed her rosy lips. A white curtain began forming around her body the lower the frozen balls went on their journey towards the ice-covered earth below. Their room was on the last floor of the hotel, the view of the sky quite impressive. She seemed completely isolated from everything around her. The Frenchman's head lowered so his hat hid more than half his face and his shoulders gave on single tremble while his grip tightened and his mouth pulled back into a snarl.

"C'est vraiment des conneries!" (That is REALLY bullshit!) He pushed the vampire back quickly turning to face the young girl to take her hand. It caused her to lose the white fluff and watch him with confused eyes, almost scared. Why was he taking it from her?

"Mignonette…." He spoke in a quiet, careful voice raising his other hand to her cheek. One dark brown iris focused on two garnet ones. "I won't hurt you. Please listen to me."

Her ears did listened, but her mind was far away. She kept his gaze physically, but not really. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Hhmmm…" She smiled all of a sudden before speaking. "You talk funny."

"Mignonette." He tried again.

"Leave her be." Alucard interfered sounding as if defeated. He'd tried as well but there was too much damage to simply have it all undone in one night. It would take time; from his own experience he knew all too well.

"No one asked you!" Pip shouted towards him. "This is all your fault!" he failed to notice Seras's body going stiff at his increased temper and grip on her shoulders. Her hands came up quickly to his chest shoving him form her while backing up in the other corner of the not so large balcony. Her eyes were shut tight and her mouth clamped shut. Her fangs had elongated without her knowing again piercing her lower lip on both sides; her fingers lost in the long golden mass tied at the base of neck. She whimpered as if in pain, but there wasn't really any.

"_You've damaged her! You BROKE her!"_

"_She's not your concern!"_

Both their voice shouted, argued inside her mind with no recollection as too where on when it happened. Pip's rang out as the loudest, the angriest.

"_I should have let her watch you die! You **forced** her! Forced a memory she's tried to kill for years. You miserable piece of shit you know nothing about her!"_

"_Be silent!"_

"_She will never forget this! She will **never** forgive **you**!"_

"Just go away." It was only a whisper. The draculina's body quivered as she suddenly felt a raising pain in her legs. Her eyes cracked open allowing her to look down at herself. What she saw was blood: blood trickling down her legs over the pale flesh of the thighs and black material of the leather boots. Two trickles, three, four…more; her legs, her arms, the floor...everything...Her head began to cry with discomfort…more blood…more…..

"Blood….blood…." She repeated in a frightful tone unable to stop her ranting or shaking.

"Seras." Pip reacted first extending one arm out towards her in a genuine concerned gesture while the vampire took a moment more to watch. His eyes had narrowed jut slightly and he remained quite passive on the outside. His mind however, had wasted no time in reaching out and finding hers. It surprised him quite a lot to find nothing there. It wasn't that she wasn't letting him in, quite the opposite. There was simply nothing there to be found. He could not find anything which could enlighten him on her sudden and peculiar behavior. The Frenchman's hand touched her left underarm when she pulled back violently snarling in rage denting the metal of the railing with her back.

"Nu m-atinge!" her shadow morphed behind her losing its humanly shape and shifting into a swirling mass. "Nu….."

Only now had Alucard acted ignoring all possible cries of protest from her. He moved fast and efficient and had her back inside their room and pinned to the bed in seconds. He hovered above her keeping both her hands securely in place in front of her chest in a firm grip while her shadows continued to wreak havoc and fill up the entire room from floor to ceiling except for the balcony's entrance. His left knee parted her own using the strength in his legs to help hold her down more. Her body trembled as if convulsing; her only free leg, the left, pressed against the flat surface of the bed in a failed attempt too provide leverage and break free. Her upper body arched despite the vampire's attempt to ground her, head tilting back all the way as she screamed and thighs clamping down with brute strength on his upper legs as the muscles contracted. "Ahh!…." Every single one of her teeth was jagged and outgrown, the gums bleeding.

"No!" The mercenary shouted appalled at what he was seeing. He began moving only to be tripped down by quickly rising bulge in the black floor which enclosed one of his legs in a chain like fashion causing him to fall. Something cold and liquid leaked from the ceiling above directly over his head as he managed to left himself up on his elbows. It didn't stop, instead continued to do so not only above him but in other parts of the ceiling and the walls as well. The dark liquid poured mixing with the darkness emanating from her body until it shifted color without warning and turned blood red. "Mignonette!"

The draculina only whimpered a pained cry. Her body relaxed for but a moment before moving again trying to break free, curve and assume a fetal position. Her eyes leaked crimson yet seemed nothing like any tear she'd ever shed since becoming one of the night. The lights all flickered on and off, the metal of the balcony's railing screeched as it was bent, the wooden furniture fissured and all the glass windows cracked before shuttering into hundreds of little pieces which then were engulfed by the moving floor.

"Do not speak." Alucard told the mercenary keeping his voice calm. His grip loosed just enough to readjust the way he was holding her writs so that he could hold both with one hand; his right free moved onto her left shoulder where it took hold of her clothing and ripped the sleeves of both her black jacked and white shirt exposing her arm and strange glowing markings upon it. He had immediately noticed a change in her limbs as he'd been holding her: the right remained cold as a vampire's should be but the left started to heat up, more and more until he felt it burn against his palm even through every bit of fabric keeping their naked skin apart. They glowed a deep crimson and had a wide design similar to the growth pattern of a vine. Alucard released the long piece of fabric now dangling from Seras's wrist and quickly went for the collar making short work of the front of her attire. The eerie glow wasn't limited to her left arm but shoulder and clavicle as well and rapidly descending down toward her chest and abdomen.

"NO! Don't you fuc….."

"SILENCE!" the vampire shouted in anger without diverting his attention from the task at hand. His hand cupped her waist, fingers spread wide to increase the surface touched and moved it along the fine curve of her hips lifting it a few cm of the bed and getting her attention. Her eye, till now distant, unfocused and rolled back almost completely, suddenly fixed themselves in one move of him and him alone. The irises both a very dark crimson which flickered black from time to time and pupils so small they could barely be seen standing out from the see of red surrounding them.

As soon as the vampire' hand touched her skin the marking stopped their progress as if waiting. Alucard began moving his hand up. It was low and it was deliberate, lingering in touch with her skin for as long as possible in one spot before passing on to the next. She responded right away arching a second a time while the marking slowly started to retract inch by inch in tune with the time-consuming movement of his treacherous hand. The latter followed a steady path along her body tracing along her flat stomach and lean ribs then up and over the curve of her breast never once breaking contact or changing the pressure applied. The vine crimson marking retracted until they became trapped upon her shoulder and could not back down any further. As for the draculina herself, she no longer lied down but rose from the bed in sink with his movements: the further up his hand went the more she rose until finally she was standing up almost completely and he had to bend his arm at the elbow to maintain the contact and straighten his position from hovering above her to straight and facing her. Still, given the large difference in height between them, he also had to lend his head and shoulders. Their bodied were intimately connected with little space to spare between them and heads about a palms distance from each other. The intense moment seemed to fade into a deep trance trapping both undead, well until a brute gesture tore it apart. Just as the vampire's hand reached her collarbone intense pain shot though his arm. The marking fought back and instead of retreating further pushed one in a single quick and highly efficient strike which ripped at his clothes and skin alike. The sleeves of his right arm were torn in a serpent like pattern while a long crimson line leaking crimson appeared underneath the damaged fabric. Not only that but her left arm, which till now had been limp and motionless next to her side, had its fingers pressed up against hsi right cheek and sharp nails puncturing the pale skin with very small red droplets hiding 'd drawn blood and smirked at doing so; head now facing down, teeth grinning against each other.

Alucard had hissed at the sudden shift, the pain searing through his body with very little in effect in contract to other countless wounds received over the long vast centuries lived yet the uncommon it brought along was indeed something strange. He narrowed his eyes further at the feel of her slender fingers cutting away at his face like the finest of scalpels. Without warning the corners of her lips pulled back in a snarl and he was all of a sudden on his back on the floor then just as fast pressed up against the broken balcony's door frame with something incredibly soft caressing his lips in a ghost like touch and darkness drowning him. He did not respond or fight against it in any fashion simply resolved to quietly observing it act and assess the situation. It was a wise decision. Everything in the room fell quite: an eerie, deafening silence with nothing but the flickering lights which died out the very next moment. The darkness was gone, the shadows as well. The elder vampire silently paced outside of the room stopping before the broken, bent and twisted metal once forming a secure and straight barrier. Three long scratches marred his cheek each bleeding then, one by one, they started to heal as he looked in the distance at the dissipating mass of darkness and sprouting blood wings belonging undoubtedly to his little draculina. She moved lightning fast in a zigzag pattern for about a few seconds before vanishing in a crimson line altogether. His eye remained narrowed and he made no effort move in any way from that spot except to elegantly raise his right hand up to his face and place the orange colored glasses which appeared between his fingers back over his eyes. The room had been severely damaged, nothing that couldn't be fixed, yet still enough to look as though a tornado had struck it full force. And considering she'd hardly moved at all it was indeed an accomplishment. He could hear footsteps in the distance. People had heard her scream, heard the destruction take place. Very well then he thought she would to need to feed after all.

"What have you done?" he heard the French mercenary ask in a low, defeated tone his head held down. He was still crouched on the floor and held in pace by the swirling band of darkness keeping him tied to the dark brown coffin. He could not do anything, during it all, he had been as if stripped of energy altogether and forcefully held in place. Why kept popping inside his mind. Had she not wished for help? His help. Why was he still…

"Human." Alucard continued yet paused right after speaking that word. It wasn't that he was calling to him or demanding attention, but answering the question flowing through his mind. True, despite his death, despite _living_ on as spirit in the bottle that was her soul, he was still, to the very core human: _simply_ human. He could not understand. Could not comprehend what went on inside the head of one no longer of this mortal world. Yet….

"You don't either." Pip replied looking up in defiance with his one good eye. Something during all that had happened his hat had vanished and his hair and been undone form its braid thus concealing most of his features. None of them raised their voices like before. "You don't know what she did."

"I do not need to know."

"Yes you do! This isn't a joke." He tried getting up but a second tendril wrapped him in it tight embrace pulling him once more. His body crashed face down with a loud thud. "What are you doing?" This time he shouted, angry and concerned. And it was only a moment after he finished that he was been pulled backwards towards the opening coffin. If he though this was...

"Nothing." Alucard replied shattering that thought from Pip's mind right before a large black blanked covered the brown haired man swallowing him whole.

"Wha…." Were the mercenary's last words before hi vision turned black and his view obscured by the shadows. The coffin's lid closed on it's on, the thud from its movement echoing through the entire room. The vampire was left alone with cold winter wind flowing through his long ebony hair.

"It is no **my** work _human_."

.

.

.

And speaking of which, three loud bangs came from the room's door. Someone was behind it, someone most likely demanding answers for the noise and screams.

/Troublesome./ Alucard considered not opening the door, even getting rid of them quietly. But then again, his draculina **would** need to eat. No doubt she was doing it right now. The bloodlust in her drowning her crimson irises shone brightly, the fangs, and the body language. She would feed. One how many he did not know, nor if they would live to tell or not. But, it wouldn't hurt to have some fresh, warm, and apparently _virgin_ blood waiting for her.

/A yes…/ he though. It had truly been a while he himself had partaken in the sweet, addicting taste of a pure and untainted meal. Perhaps it was a good occasion to allow his tongue to rejoice and remember in the sinful, delicious taste. After all, in the end, it would not _hurt._

_._

_._

_._

Well **him** that is.

.

.

To be continued...

Chapter 2 is done, don't I've ever written one quite so long.

More to be revealed next time when the vampire reach HOME. Till then, please read and please review. I'd like to know what you think.

Bye, bye

Shadow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hy.  
><strong>So here's the next chapter, I've been a bit busy lately so I apologize for the delay. I'm not quite sure when the next chapter will be posted, i didn't like the direction I was taking it so I've decided to alter it and it may therefore take a while until it is done.

Anyways, enjoy this one for now.

**Chapter 4  
><strong>

_Ring, ring, ring…._

The telephone rang for the 7th time in Integra's office echoing loudly in the still room. No one had picked it up so far and so it kept on ringing. Then….

"What?" the knight asked to the point of shouting not able to take the 4 extra rings following the first 7 which, however unfortunate it might had been, finally managed to wake her up. It was long passed midnight. She had at last finished her paperwork, which now littered the front part of her desk in 3 medium sizes stacks, and had fallen asleep shortly after: barely a half hour or maybe an hour? She didn't know and was far too tired to turn her head towards the small digital clock next to the last pile. Yet for as how tired she was, the angrier she felt and upset she became for being woken up from her peaceful slumber.

"This is hardly the response I had expected Sir Hellsing." A male voice said over the phone. "How many times must I call before you finally answer?"

{How about never!} she considered; the first thought to cross her mind.

"What do you want McCoy?" she questioned straightening her position in the chair she occupied.

"Mr. McCoy." The man in question casually said back from the other side of the room while closing the door behind him. The phone which rested in his right hand just got switched off. He wore n all black suit with a dark blue shirt and black tie. His hair was a light brown cut short and his eyes onyx in color. "And you kept me waiting."

"Then you should have called sooner. Better yet leave. Our discussion was over the last time you came running by." Sarcasm flowed within her voice lacing each and every word. She was neither in the mood nor had she any desire whatsoever to indulge this so called conversation.

"No. No not quite. For you see there's been a new development regarding your situation. How should I put this, a yes, your vampire, the young one where is she?" he asked taking a seat in one of two chair placed before the grand wooden desk crossing his left leg over the right.

"Taken care of as last time you asked. She will not be of _use_ for a while."

"And yet you've a whole month to locate and bring her back. The girl's **your** responsibility not your other vampire's. I've been patient, very so, but this has gone far enough. You have a loose vampire and no means of bringing it back. I suppose, in this case, it' quite pointless to start questioning you in regards of the possible results the blood might have had. Or perhaps, is it?"

"Excuse me?"

McCoy chuckled obviously amused by the confound expression upon her face. "As I've said before: a new development. You have been deemed obsolete Sir: You, this organization, the vampire, everything. It a decision both _We_ and the Queen have come to accept more and more as time progressed. The last major incident featuring the involvement of this organization ended in a war, thousand of deaths and the vast destruction of the city which, if I my remind you, is still being rectified to this day. An unnecessary war, first and foremost, against an enemy registered as subdued by this House no less during the last World War. "

"You failed to mention how you did nothing during it all: the Royal order of Religious Knights, Iscariot, and the Last Battalion. Pray tell, where were you Mr. McCoy?"

"Oh _we_ were the: watching and waiting. And you my dear are on the short end of a very small rope, a child playing in a game of masters while trying to survive to tell the tale. Tell me, how many more soldiers do you plan on loosing simply because you can not control your legacy? How many more incidents will there be? There are many reports Sir Hellsing regarding such disciplinary misconduct. The girl isn't even yours, you don't own her."

"I own her master, it' enough. And stupidity cannot be cured. The men who step out of line are not my problem, they are told what to do and how to act from the moment they step foot into this house and accept their position. Perhaps it is **you** who should not send such incompetent men in the first place. The vampires answer to me regardless of what you might think."

"But you see they do not." McCoy said with a much deeper tone. He leaned back a little more in order to place both his elbows on the armrests, entwine his fingers and rest hi chin upon them. "They serve the Queen and she has deemed the dangerous and a threat. I've done my homework Sir Integra, very well as a matter of fact, and things are far from the truth you try so desperately to protect. The incident last month is proof enough. The experiment may not have been a complete success but your failure to act has. You have a weapon. In your own words a vampire with power beyond imagination from 100 years of the Hellsing family's occult knowledge yet somehow easily brought to its knees by a simple mix of water and red cells 8 eyes ago. That is hardly flattering, wouldn't you agree? Interesting what a little blood can do."

The platinum haired knight studied the man before her carefully with cautious narrowed eyes throughout his speech.

"What did you do?" she asked deep down already dreading to know the answer.

"What didn't we do would suffice for now." he replied. "The Last Battalion, the boy Schrödinger, quite fascination. Their weapon against yours and they won. The samples of his blood proved a very good long term investment. Naturally it wasn't easy to synthesize and extract the correct combination not to mention our various **test** subjects. And that, of course, brings us back to the subject at hand: your vampire. Subject Victoria injected at 23.46 on the night of November 30th; the results the best so far. She held up best against the so far recorded consequences, well if you take away her ruining you and that boy what's his name?"

"Walter." Integra said out loud, a soft change shining in her azure blue eyes which went unnoticed by the man facing her.

"Yes him. Funny how he's so similar to the _other_ Walter C. Dornez. It is a rather interesting coincidence."

"Funny you should mention that." Walter said from right behind McCoy's chair making hi presence known. No one heard him enter, no one heard him move across the room until he spoke up on her behalf. "Although I'm sure you already know why. I wouldn't want to impose on such an important subject with my boring history."

"Diverting the subj…"

"Business I'm afraid." Walter interrupted him. "Pier 27 A is acting up and Alucard demands a change of blood."

"Did you…" Integra began.

"All taken care of. He'll be there in 10 minutes."

Although their small conversation seemed casual and innocent enough, the phrase 'Alucard demands a change of blood' was actually a code for the room's unsafe stop talking. Integra responded in kind.

"Fine. And keep him on A+, no negative."

"Of course."

"So now the vampire demands, does he? How utterly fascinating." McCoy told them whilst sitting up and taking his phone from his pocket to dial a specific number. It rang two times before someone picked up answering with a male voice. _Yes?_

"Get the blood. Our **subject** has confirmed his appointment." He spoke in into the phone aware of the ears listening then closed once done. He turned back to the young knight as he prepared to leave. "As appealing as this conversation is, and we will continue it later Mr. Dornez I assure you, I must be of. We shall return tomorrow, no three days from now. Make sure _your_ vampire's here next time. I wish to observe the so called control you have firsthand and I do not want any more delays like tonight."

"Wait!" Integra called sitting up from her chair. He was already close to the door. He didn't let her continue. "It's come to my knowledge from a highly reliable source that drinking the blood of a Hellsing breaks his bonds. And, Sir Hellsing, he did just that on the night of the Queen' Ball." Tuning for a moment he threw something, a small black cartouche, in her direction. It landed on the chair he'd previously occupied. His eyes gleamed with the certainty of knowing the exact effect his words would have. "I **will** _thoroughly_ **examine** that link. No delays Sir Hellsing. That's an order." With that he opened the door stepping out and slammed it behind him. Walter and Integra were left alone.

"What did he mean by' subject'?" The raven haired boy asked trying to keep his questions short and casual until he could properly remedy the situation.

"Nothing. Nothing of importance Walter. "

"Sir?"

"Have the men left yet?"

"No t…."

"Keep them here. Alucard will take care of it alone. Go." Her voice turned cold and unfriendly, eye shut tight. It made him want to know, question further but….

"I said go. I have other things to do then telling you twice."

"Yes Sir." He replied before doing as told.

Once the door closed behind him as well, she let herself fall back down defeated. {Damn it!} She cured as loudly as possible inside her mind. He knew. The miserable bastard knew. But how? How did he know?…

There was no way around the fact that Alucard's runes had been broken. The symbols on his flesh were gone and his gloved were nothing more than a sham. They meant nothing. She could order him but unless he chose to do it on his own at the same time it meant nothing.

A strong kick ended that particular trail of thinking as if saying stop. Her right hand automatically went to her growing stomach caressing it gently. She remained so, in complete silence, thinking and tenderly stroking. She sighed after a while starting to fear the worst as her thoughts circled around the unborn child. No one knew how her ancestor had broken the vampire, in all the journals she had read not one held any mention or indication on how the process had actually been carried out. Only the experiments year after year till they finally satisfied. And then there was the little one to think of. Her blood bounded his but now his was inside of her keeping her child alive and free to develop.

{If I do it my baby will die.} The thought had her shoulders start to shake in sadness, fear and anger. Yet he held back her tears and screams, stood up and left the office without another word. She headed for the one room no one dared to enter, the dungeon's deepest pit: The Count's Room.

{Alucard.} Far away, her voice awoke the awaiting vampire causing his head to slightly lift from its resting position upon his right fist. He was sitting in the same dark brown leather chair facing the balcony, one leg over the other, patiently awaiting the return of his draculina. He did not consider opening his eyes at first yet something in the tone of her voice brought a change to his mind. {We must speak.}

.

.

.

The silence between them was utterly unbearable. The vampire's expression emotionless as he blankly starred into the knight's blue irises.

"You know not what you ask." such simple words were spat with immense rage and fury despite the low, nonthreatening tone used.

"Then what would you have me do vampire? You are expected to be **bound!"**

Alucard's eyes narrowed to their fullest at hearing that one word of slavery. His fingers tightened their hold over the top of the thrown like chair before he forcefully flung it aside and into the nearest wall breaking it to peaces.

"I will not be enslaved again! You had your choice and I gave it to you. I no longer serve this family, I m **not** a slave _Sir __Hellsing_! I need not listen!" the way in which he spoke her name was filled with pure, unadulterated hatred and disgust.

"Alucard!"

"I have given my answer." He hissed however, the knight didn't back down nor was she intimidated in the least by his actions. "Then consider Seras. Her life hangs in the balance, a phone call away from being cut. Don't you…"

"Do not dare!" the threat issued did not go unaccompanied as his face displayed a most menacing smirk and ferocious snarl. The room suddenly turned far darker, the patterns of the surrounding walls drowning in a sea of blackness. His red eyes glowed standing out, his fangs were bared with each word that passed from his mouth.

"It's out of my hands this time, do you not understand than?" she took one step forwards. "No one cares. This whole organization is nothing more then a sham! We've outlived our usefulness! The Queen doesn't want us around any longer. There have been fewer cases in need of your assistance these last months and I've explained but it doesn't matter! Not since the incident with Markus. Why do you think that bastard's been following me like the plague all this time?"

"And if I do what then _master_?" he questioned spitting poison and sarcasms from his lips. "They'll lock me up in some hellhole till they see use for me like your father did, like all of you did. I deserve my freedom!"

"Well I can't give it to you!"

Silence. It was dead silent. Alucarrd turned his back to her and closed his eyes, a fact which went unnoticed by the young protestant knight.

"I won't be subjected to that torture a second time _Sir __Hellsing_. You lack even the basic knowledge of how the binding works." Lowering his tone while shifting from one leg to another, he raised his head to face his black coffin. He extended his right arm so that the palm of his hand could touch the clean, smooth surface. "There is no sleep, no peace, no rest and no ending as the runes slowly and agonizingly burn their way through my flesh and blood branding me a slave. A nothing! And once it's finally spread through my body it doesn't stop. No point in having it all end too quickly when it can easily torment me further to fuel the _master__'__s_ pleasure, the pain lingers on for days, every move, every breath and every attempt at using my powers brings forth another round of excruciating pain. I cannot feed..."

Hi words no longer held anger but a deep sense of defeat as he explained. The smooth black lid of the coffin opened on its own accord revealing the garnet interior.

"What would you h…." her words were cut by the object thrown at her feet with little interest for its well being. It landed with a loud thud. Time and the centuries passed having taken its toll on it: a booklet, a journal, wrapped in leather bounding with various spots of discoloration and rips on the outside. The inside remained unknown yet the outside rim of the yellowed pages it held revealed its old age..

"The last will and testimony of Abraham Van Hellsing, his final journal, the one thing all of your predecessors were denied from ever seeing. Abraham Van Hellsing commands you to obey, obey me monster obey me know! Obey me always!" An evil sounding chuckle then passed his lips and quickly shifted into full blow laughter; she could she his shoulder blades shake from the movements of his muscles. It was mad, evil, yet somehow filled with hidden acknowledgement. And as it finally died out…

"Obeying..." he continued. "Obey I did. Every whim, each and every miserable word that left that bastard's mouth I had to do, was forced to do. There is almost no control over it in the beginning, I am bound to perform it all like a miserable dog and if I don't…..I will not subject myself to such misery again for your benefit; yours or anyone else." He walked back, decreasing the distance between them until they were barely apart and separated by just the booklet lying at the woman's feet. "Worthless than a worm, worthless than the filthiest of grounds one could walk upon. I valued nothing! Nothing!"

"You aren't nothing to me."

"How generous." He spat in revulsion.

"It won't be for long." Integra lowered her own voice seeking refuge in a more peaceful, neutral tone in hopes of making a good case. Unfortunately, her so called peaceful attempt at a truce only served in amusing the ancient vampire. It took a second for his right hand to find itself tightly wrapped around her throat lifting her so she stood on the tips of her shoes. He spoke deeply with an evident desire in seeing her not only dead but also happily willing to perform the sweet service. It was all in his blood red eyes. He towered by more than a head over her, the temperature in the dungeon cell dropped even further and he brought her closer by just an inch or two. She fought back, began to struggle and grab his wrist. Their noses almost touched allowing the coldnes breath to caress her face. His eyes were dangerously narrowed.

"Do you truly desire death Integra Hellsing? First you beg for the life of your unborn child now you're willing to dispose of it just as fast. The moment you bind me the blood I gave will most likely be rejected, rejected to the point of killing you. When my pain starts so will yours."

"It was a month away….more…" She struggled to say due to the continued pressure applied on her windpipe.

"It will die!"

Alucard growled those three words in her face as if they were nothing, yet everything at the same time. Not a possibility but a sure fact. The growl echoed loudly in the otherwise empty dungeon room. The knight's cerulean irises shrunk and she stared in horror at the creature before her. The certainty of his words, the truth in his glowing magma narrowed irises, sent shivers of intense fear up and down her spine as he told her of what would happen. Then, suddenly, the moment was broken and he released his hold on her throat. Integra coughed catching her breath as best and as quickly as she could while keeping one hand on her throat and the other on her stomach. Alucard's eyes lost their insane look softening a little. He let out a deep breath and spoke calmly while straightening his posture once more. "Once before I acknowledged you as the **only** master worth respecting. If you willingly wish to suffer then by all means do so. But know this: I will not subject my draculina to it as well. And if you ever attempt to use her existence against me in any fashion again I **will** destroy you.

No more words passed between master and servant. At least not by lips. Instead, their eyes took over for them.

"Alucard…" Integra barely managed to whisper in fear.

"I am needed elsewhere." was his answer. He walked passed her, his feet silent as they increased the distance leaving her behind. He passed through the already opened door. "You may do as you wish my master."

His body changed form transforming into a fine black mist which in turn quickly made its way through the long, maze type corridors of the underground dungeon. Left lone Integra let her head drop. The larger part of her face lay hidden by the platinum strands of hair cascading down her forehead. She was looking down at the bound leather booklet discarded at her feet without moving. It took several minutes before she finally bent down to pick it up.

.

.

.

.

The hour was long into the cold winter night with freezing temperatures and layers of slippery ice covering the concrete below. The roads were traitorous and the sky full of falling whiteness.

"Go faster dude."

"Yeah man, we won't get there on time."

Two loud voices rang long side the roaring engine of an open top car dashing through the otherwise empty streets. Two of the three passengers stood upright on the backseat, each with a bottle in one hand and holding in with the other. The third one drove, his face harboring an obvious expression which could only be interpreted as annoyance.

"Will you give it a break? And stop waving that stupid bottle in my face!"

"Fine, wouldn't want you…." The boy in the red jacket began.

"…to piss you pants." The second in orange finished. Both, twins, laughing afterwards like there was no tomorrow.

"Shut it!" The driver, dressed in a black coat and green scarf shouted back turning his head away from the road. It caused him to loose focus on what he was doing and not saw the person crossing the street up ahead.

"Stop!" one of the boys in the backseat screamed after seeing her first but it was already too late. She was but a few feet away and the ice hidden by the thick layers of snow prevented the car from stopping in time. The breaks didn't hold causing the vehicle to glide. The two objects crashed into each other within a timeline of just several seconds. The car slides and looses control in the process as the driver frantically tried turning in the very last moment. The wheels failed and slipped, the vehicle glided and didn't stop until it hit the sidewalk about four meters way and came to a halt standing parallel to the sides of the street. The left side had collided with the streetlamp, the force of the impact stopping the car almost immediately, bending the door frame and shattering the window.

And as all three passengers had closed their eyes just before the fatal moment of impact and neither of them saw how the girl's ghostlike body simply passed through the rough metal of the car without as much as a scratch on her. Quickly, as soon as he regained focus, the drive stepped out shouting in her direction in both fear and great concern. The other two still needed time to overcome the intense sense of nausea that had come over them due to their drunken state.

"Shit are y….are you alright?" He couldn't help but pause for a moment at seeing her stand there unmoving and practically unaffected. He had not been imagining it, had he? The boy thought while getting a better view of her. She had been right in front of the car. He had….

His right arm rose as he carefully stepped closer and closer. Broken glass littered the patch of ground next. With the remaining whole pieces cracking under the weight of his feet the man stepped on them. The girl on the other hand remained motionless with her back towards him and clothing highlighted by the nearby streetlamp. "Can you hear me?" he asked again and this time she turned her head to watch him from the corner of her blazing crimson orbs which stood out in the darkness. An unworldly, haunted and distant look resided in them. Her lips parted before curving back into a silent, wicked snarl. Whatever words would have followed died on the man's tongue at seeing her bloody, dripping jagged teeth. A sudden sense of imminent, uncontrollable fear washed over him in seconds sending chills down his spine. Adrenalin pumped into his bloodstream almost immediately as his body suddenly screamed with the need to get away and run as fast and as far away as possible from her. He took one step back, she one forward. And all that followed afterwards were screams in the night, one dying after another. The streetlights flickered, the car still stood there with its doors open once it was all. Alongside it, three unmoving bodies sprawled over the recently disturbed blanket. They lay on the blood covered snow while in the distance a pair of high healed shoes echoed as they kept casually walking away from the crime scene, one step after the other; the sound they made getting fainter and fainter. More screams would haunt the night that cold winters eve, more blood would be spill upon the virgin white snow and more bodies would litter the empty streets until the saving light of the sun would finally arise from its long slumber.

When Alucard returned to the hotel room after his conversation with Integra he found it just as cold, empty and dark as when he'd left it; the balcony still open and the discarded silk scarf over the chair's armrest. Releasing a deep sigh he began walking towards the other end of the room, his steps silent as they made their way over the plush carpet. He picked it up bringing it to his lips. With his eyes closed he inhaled deeply allowing the sweet fragrance it carried to calm his senses down even if it was nowhere near enough. Afterwards he sat down on the leather chair crossing one leg elegantly over another. The long scarf hung over his lap while he let both hand rest over the two armrests. More than an hour passed by before his eyes reopened then slightly narrowed as he took in the sight of his long awaited draculina, her dark silhouette standing before the opened balcony door. The vampire straightened his posture and uncrossed his legs without taking his eyes off of her. Moonlight bathed the left side of his face, the smooth jaw line and high chick bones, framed by the long black strands.

Both the scent and sight of blood on her skin and clothes caught his attention from the very moment she stepped back onto the balcony' surface. Her hair, wet from the melted snow, clinging to her pale flesh and framing her otherwise melancholic features and distant eyes was highlighted with various crimson streaks. The front of her shirt was stained crimson as well accentuating the V formed by the edges of the black, long-sleeved jacket. Blood also trickled from the left corner of her bluish lips and bare fingers, the drops dripping onto the floor from her fingertips. The kill was fresh and there was absolutely no doubt about it.

"Seras."

She did not speak. She walked up to him without raising her head. Once there she kneeled and made herself comfortable by resting her head on the inner side of his right thigh as his legs parted on their own accord permitting her to settle contentedly in between them. Both her legs went under her, her right shoulder leaning against the front part of the leather chair for added support and her left arm snaked its way around his right calf while the other settled itself next to her jaw. Her finger brushed against the fabric of his dark pants tightening their grip ever so often. She gave off a content sigh as though being in his presence automatically made everything better. And in…truth it did. It was a comfort only he could give to a situation perhaps only he could come close to understanding. "What have you done draculina?" Alucard asked of her in a somewhat gentle yet confirming tone as his right hand went to caress the top of her head with slow gentle strokes. The question was highly redundant at this moment in time and the answer more than obvious from the state of her clothing yet he couldn't help but ask anyway. Nevertheless, the young vampire remained silent. Instead her only reaction was to merely press her right cheek more into his thigh and the soft fabric of his black trousers burying her face after which she lowered her head by an inch or two eyelids dropping in the process.

"I see."

The stroking movement of his hand was firm yet at the same time no lighter than a feathers touch as the long digits expertly made small circles against the skin of her scalp massaging it and playing with the wet golden curls, treading them in the process. He continued to do so for a while, he needed time to ponder his words and thoughts before sharing them. He felt her body relax and embrace him further. Thus, when he spoke again, he applied just a bit of pressure upon the child's lower jaw right next to her ear signaling her to pay close attention to what was about to happen. The beautiful pair of crimson irises took but a moment to study his features from the corner of her eyes before shifting back down again into the soft pillow that was his thigh.

"We leave by train once the sun sets. It will take us close to a city called Brasov and from there on we'll travel in our own way. I've made special arrangements for a carriage to take us to the castle. It's well hidden within the high mountains and carved directly into it. The west side faces a path between the two mountains leading up to it and we will be taking it in order to get there. The west wing of the castle shall be your new home for the duration of our stay. All you may need will be provided for you. You will be safe in my absence."

Meanwhile, Seras stood still as she waited for her master to finish talking. She felt warm and comfortable now, relaxed by the deep shooting tone of his hunting voice. The screams inside her head were dead and fresh warm blood coursed through her veins. It wasn't until after the last word rolled of his lips that she submitted to any movement whatsoever. **Absence****…****..**

Her grip increased and her head turned so that her entire face was pressed against the fabric of his pants.

"You will _leave_?" She hesitantly asked.

The vampire let out an amused chuckled before answering. "It has long been custom that a King and Queen have separate room in case of certain_ special_ circumstances even before my time draculina. But no I won't. My room will be in north wing but that is, as said before, more of a human tradition. The rooms will be separate but you will not be alone, hardly at all little one. We'll still be sharing a coffin. The catacombs were dug deep down in the mountain's base as an extra precaution, one of many so to speak. Reveling more would only spoil the surprise. I wish for you to see it."

The elder vampire leaned forward using both his hands to lift her head from his lap. She refused steadfast.

"Look upon your master draculina." Alucard told her changing the tone of his alluring voice. Seras continued to hesitate but obliged in the end. Her drowsy eyes looked upon his face watching as the orange lenses faded from sight revealing his crimson orbs. His left hand supported her head which she allowed to fully lean against. However, as his right came back to touch her, she was very much startled by the feel of his bare skin upon hers. Without the white fabric of his gloves his skin felt strange and unfamiliar; she could not remember him touching her without them and jerked in fear from them whimpering as he in return only held her in place and intensified the contact.

"Shhhh." He purred in a soft soothing whisper bringing their faces closer together. He leaned in more while at the same time gently pulled her forward onto her knees. His lips hovered over hers and in a feather like touch coaxed her into reopening her beautiful eyes. "Look at me draculina."

"Hhmmm." She let out a light whimper doing as told. His right hand, which till now had maintained its still position on her left cheek, began to slowly trace the shape of her jaw; the long elegant fingers moving over paths long ago explored in the most intimate and detailed of ways: from her cheek to her slender throat along the pulsing vein hiding just under the surface and then back up again with firm tender strokes always applying jut the right amount of pressure. Once he reached the shell of her ear he moved some the silken golden strands behind it while at the same time tilting her head back and to his left a few cm more. Her body relaxed once again ceasing to tremble beneath his mesmerizing touch and stare, pink full lips parting invitingly and eyelids closing halfway.

Afterwards he cupped her cheek pressing his thumb against her bottom lip and tracing it. He watched with mild amusement as her eyelids dropped further and her tiny mouth parted a little more before releasing another light sigh; it had always brought him a sadistic sort of pleasure to watch the effect fresh blood had on her; fresh and untainted, a very powerful combination indeed. Earlier that night, after she'd left to feed, he had most diligently _procured_ some awaiting her return.

His thumb smeared the small trickle of red fluid over her bottom lip coating it as any lipstick would. Her mouth closed in on the mischievous finger, her delicate tongue daring out from between her lips to remove the remaining crimson delicacy from his skin before he pulled it away making her moan in protest. The vampire smirked seeing as she had yet to take care of the blood marring her lip.

"You must feed." He recited producing a blood filled long stemmed glass which appeared out of the darkness in his right hand. He held it with his palm up and in between his middle and index finger. Seras whimpered closing her eyes briefly as she turned her head into his other arm and denied the request. She had fed already, so much….. There was no room left no matter how much or how great the temptation was. "Yes…" Alucard urged on seductively while at the same time brought the glass to her lips placing it right under her nose. The rich aroma had her senses swooning and head tilt back completely if not for the hand holding it in place. His grip increased as he felt her body slowly go numb, the muscles in her legs relaxing more and more as the rest of her body did the same almost turning into jelly.

He pressed the cold glass against her lips and tilted it so that the fine liquid could easily slip and flow undisturbed into her mouth. She drank it all, one gulp after another, until there was nothing left but the residue upon the interior surface of the glass. He in turn drank the sight of her letting it drown him completely.

"Good girl."

Seras smiled through half closed eyes prior to arching up and pressing her lips against his in a very gentle touch. The contact was brief and barely made as she went completely limb within his arms afterwards and fell into a deep sleep. Alucard discarded the now empty glass and hocked his free hand around and behind her knees to lift her up bridle style. His left hand lowered to grasp her shoulders for better support. And once he had her secure in his arms, he made his way across the room towards the awaiting dark brown coffin where he carefully laid her in not wishing to disturb her slumber. He then closed the lid content on leaving her inside her coffin to do what was needed. He ran his gloveless hand over the lid once he'd closed it before he got up and walked back to the leather chair. With a flick of his wrist a second glass, also filled with the same virgin blood, appeared in his hand. He drank it in one large gulp then sat down resuming his former position on the chair: head leaning to the right supported by his right hand and legs crossed one over the other. He would not rest, not that he particularly needed to given his _old_ age, but it would be unwise to leave a youngling such as her in this condition unsupervised until he got her to a secure and safe environment. Schrödinger's blood was just beginning its work. And already the damage was highly extensive. Worst of all, there was hardly anything he could do about it. He'd spent 30 years trying to undo the damage: its haunting presents within his own system. And it had taken a great toll. There was no telling what it could do such a still fragile child.

/Everywhere and nowhere./ the vampire remembered. Truly her powers, her very essence leaked everywhere they went in such vast quantities in was surprising and satisfactory to see her body still just as strong and still fighting back against it. However, her mind was a different matter. Her mind was truly nowhere: scared, unsure and mostly confused. But then she would easily recognize everything and everyone around her. _You__ talk__ funny__…__._ he remembered her saying to the French mercenary. She could not even recall her own powers. And then there the ever present voice, the screams plaguing her mind from a past long left behind.

"How much has she kept from me?" He said to himself giving the question a lot of thought. In truth he had never had a reason to ponder it in the past. Naturally, in the very beginning, he found it hardly important or even relevant enough to bring up. All he'd know was what Walter had told him then; that she'd been orphaned. After that there hadn't been sufficient time to ask. Surprisingly, 30 years later, the need had still not arisen. There were of course the small unrelated exceptions which would sometimes come up during a conversation or mission but never anything remotely close to what he'd seen under the influence of that vile, destructive liquid. His own blood had failed him with the mating bond; it should have told him, should have told every little detail of those two decades of being a mere, simple human girl.

.

_They hurt you so bad and caused so much pain. Let me take it all away. _

_There were so many wounds on your body, so merciless given. You were only a boy…_

.

And yet somehow she did. Somehow she'd seen all that about his past while he continued to remain blind to the truth. There had been a certain freedom in allowing her to know more than what that witch had forced her to see; a comfort in knowing and sharing a side of him so deeply buried in the deepest parts of his dark and tainted soul.

_I'd kiss them all to take your pain._

_Don't leave my bed just yet it's still warm….._

And yes, very warm indeed. Who would have thought a simple gesture as moving her fingertips over all of those many scars in ghost like touches could have such a profound effect on him; the caress of those sinful full lips and curious tongue over each one in particular. It was enough to make him shift his position in the chair slightly and have his eyes close in concentration. His lips curled in a smirk at one particular thought but it dropped the very next moment as a different one took its place.

"Where is she now?" he question out loud, the question itself dieing without a proper answer once the sound of his voice perished. In almost 10 years after returning he'd not pondered this line of thought once. Had his body been left behind instead of melting away in a pile of blood would he have endured a similar fate? Seras had no extra voices nor lost souls as he had, at least not as many. There was only the mercenary who stood out the most and dominant, but the several others he'd encountered were not worth mentioning. They couldn't possibly provide any sort of contribution either way. So then what? What was eating away at her life-force, her sanity?

Alucard reopened his eyes putting an end to all the questions raging through his mind. Perhaps, for now, it was best to merely observe her behavior and act if necessary. Certain moments continue to hold great meaning to her. She fears yet desires his touch as the same time; fear always first then desire. Was it perhaps that the mercenary was right? Did she fear because he'd gone too far? They'd had somewhat _violent_ encounters n the past, it was a true vampire's nature after all, but maybe….NO. He quickly tore that idea apart. His draculina is strong and embraced the gift, the blood and violence. Her past indicated that best. But then what had happened to it in those few years before he'd meat her to change her so drastically. Violence had dominated her young life then nothing up till the moment he tumbled upon her and killed her. And even then she held back continuously until Millennium. She fought, _always,_ and always peace, always serenity lingered inside of her.

He did, however, remember a certain conversation they'd once had sometime after his return. A conversation that would indeed stir up rather interesting consequences later on. he could not help but smile at the thought.

_Flashback_

_The mission seemed relatively simple: get in, kill everything on sight and get out. The draculina advanced slowly and with care through the empty corridors of the abandoned, condemned building. She wore her usual Hellsing uniform except that it color would forever now be the deep crimson red gained while feeding off of the former French captain. Her gloves a light grey and her thigh high stocking were jet black matching her new set of artillery she carried. Strapped to her right thigh was a gun holster, empty as the weapon in question currently resided in her right hand, barrel facing down. She did not bring her Harchonen this time; sometimes it felt far better to get up and close to her victims and their blood than simply blow them part in one single strike. Surely she loved her weapon but the need far outweighed the desire to drag the massive piece of equipment around all night despite it being quite light to her enlarged strength. The gun on the other hand was light, easily manipulated and effortlessly concealed should the situation require it. It resembled in its shape those of her master: a longer barrel and sturdier handle for more fire power. And, since we are speaking of the devil himself: _

_/Don't dawdle Police girl, I have a prior engagement I must attend to./_

_/Police girl?/ Seras ironically questioned as the particular term of endearment graced her ears with it lovely presence and thus broke her concentration. What the hell did he just mean by **Police**** girl**? She'd not heard it in years and he'd returned for four. Still nothing; not even as a joke or a means to get on her nerves and pester her. it was as if the word simply died alongside him that day. It was only draculina, maybe sometimes little one, which in turn always did sound a bit more caring then the first, hell he'd even started calling her Seras once or twice but Police girl was no more. /What the **hell** are you doing?/ She questioned him back emphasizing on the word hell before projecting her anger out._

_/Now, now Police girl control that temper. It's rude to be rude to your elders a…/ He did not manage to finish as she completely blocked his voice from her mind sending him a smug feeling in return through their link. In short: shut up and let me do my job. _

_She continued to walk, nothing so far. Unlike the first few missions alone when she maintained communications with the soldier accompanying her, she had none this time. For years now she'd given up on that human trait and did it alone like her master had always done before her. There was no need, her senses told her all she required. As she reached the end of a corridor and the last room, she carefully pushed it aside to look inside. Blood and grime marred the floor and walls in similar fashion to every other room she'd seen so far. Scattered pieces of various bodies lined this floor as they did the rest. Yet this room wasn't like the rest, something or someone resided within. There was a faint whimper coming from behind the ruined bet in the far corner. The vampire approached carefully raising her gun ready to fire. _

_She felt a light aura, a mere child. _

"_I won't harm you." She told the small black haired girl whose head peaked out from under the dirty covers. Her eyes were yellowish brown with dirt all over her face. Seras lowered her gun and pushed the bed aside extending her left arm out. "We'll get you out, come."_

_She kept her voice calm and features gentle. The little girl took her hand almost too eagerly and made no protest to being removed from the dreadful area. The two hardly stepped out of the room when gunshots echoed through the empty halls. The soldiers were being attacked. One of them came around the corner, a gun in his right arm and the left keeping pressure on his left thigh: blood ran down his leg from two shots._

"_We need backup on the third floor! We have one, a civilian!" She heard him say into his earpiece. He'd seen them. The child let go of Seras's hand and ran towards the wounded man. _

"_Help!" she cried fixing her gaze upon him. Two ghouls appeared behind the man, one grabbing his right shoulder while the other had his mouth open ready to bite. None of them succeeded as they were crushed under the strength of a true vampire. Seras moved fast, one ghouls at time if not two at one, throughout the entire length of the long corridor killing, shooting, or quite simply decapitating and piercing their hearts with her bare hands. Crimson and ash splattered all over in succession ribbon like trails of blood flying through the air from the sheer speed and momentum of her actions. The four remaining men trapped on the floor and surrounded up to their head in undead filth, now found themselves drenched in red goo and muck._

_Seras's step echoed as she walked the distance back to where the first man and the child lay, the heels of her short black boots clinging against the wood of the floor for each taken pace. The closest two joined their injured command but…._

"_Move!" She demanded changing the cartridge of silver bullets preparing her gun. The men obeyed and pulled the girl with then before allowing her space to walk by. She only took three more steps forward before turning her right arm back, not needing to look back at all, pointing the barrel straight into the child's forehead and shooting without a moment of hesitation. The shot echoed; the men too stunned to say a thing as the small body fell backwards landing with a thud. A second shot pierced her chest almost immediately. Crimson gushed from her parting lips and then pooled around her unmoving corps. It seeped into the nearest cracks of the wooden floor._

"_Move out."_

_The draculina pulled her arm back and placed her gun inside its holster around her thigh. Afterwards she kept on walking; the body of the small child was left behind._

"_Wh…what the hell di…she was the only survivor!" One of the men shouted enraged. "No." Seras coldly replied. _

"_Don't you walk! She was a child!" Grabbing hold of her left shoulder the man tried turning her around. Instead he found himself shoved with great force into the left side wall of the hall so that his back left a clear indentation. Seras's left hand found his throat held him completely off the ground, the muscles in her arm not even strengthening to support his weight. _

"_You will know your place!" She growled from the depths of her throat, hoarse and raw, her crimson eyes narrowing dangerously. They flashed red. "I do not need advice from a lousy human on who to do **my** job." She watched the man squirm under her gaze, heard the others ready their guns. They were so naïve; still to new to this business to realize their measly weapons had no chance against her. Still, she let go. His body fell coughing and taking frantic breaths of air. _

"_You are fools. She would have killed you all." The draculina didn't bother a moment longer; she turned and continued where she left off. The girl had been the freak vampire, she reeked of it. Such fools. The men watched her descend down the bloody flight of stairs, two more ghouls coming up her way, yet she didn't bother to do more than move and raise her left arm in front of her chest before swinging it to the side. Her shadows awoke in a swirling black and crimson whip like tendril that cut through them in seconds before vanishing from whence it came as her arm descended to resume its position alongside her body. It happened all in the blink of an eye._

_Outside her shire waited, his long limbs resting peacefully crossed over his chest, hat and glasses well in place and red cravat moving gently in the light night breeze.. _

"_Target silenced." She told him but didn't stop walking. He in turn said nothing. He merely let her pass with a knowing grin, a very pleased grin, appearing on his pale face. _

_/Police girl…/his voice whispered in her mind, a hint of both curiosity and pleasure._

_"Seras!" She demanded cutting him off before more could be said. Her voice did not shout nor plead, it merely demanded; her tone calm yet serious and unafraid. Police girl was gone. "Seras Victoria!"_

_At least for now._

_Flashback end_

"Seras Victoria…." Alucard let her name roll of his tongue once more. Ah yes….**Seras ****Victoria**.

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The following night found the two vampires were standing in the middle of nowhere surrounded in every direction by large, lush trees and various sound made by the vast forest. Snow partially covered it and unlike back in the city, the sky above them shone more brightly and more lively. No clouds lined the sky, yet fresh snow covered the frozen ground. They stood near an old abandoned hut and path somewhere in the woods, the black haired vampire having his back lean against the trunk of an old oak, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed as he enjoyed the peace and tranquility surrounding him after so many yeas apart. The dark orange tinted lenses were halfway down his nose exposing his closed eyelids. His posture was completely relaxed and a small, almost invisible, smile grazed his lips. It was closing in, the faint rumble of the earth beneath his feet a sure sign. He reopened his eyes and moved away from the dark trunk. He went left towards the nearest tree where the younger vampire lay in waiting sitting down on one of its raised roots. A small bundle of pure white fur rested on her lap with her arms securely wrapped around the little creature. Its heart pounded heavily against her left palm upon its chest while the other carefully stroked its back. It had been quite recently caught.

"You didn't have to scare it." She said in a fairly loving yet scolding tone while continuing to pet the bunny's soft white fur. Since their last night she began talking more, though it was still refrained and shy. Perhaps the blood _had_ helped. He would need to investigate further.

"They weren't embedded little one. You can feel its heart." Alucard replied as he kneeled in front of her and placed his right gloved hand over hers.

"Yes." In fact the sound was more than hypnotizing against her bare skin and sensitive ears.

_Thud,__thud,__thud_….as it went ever pumping, ever moving, so full of warm, tempting blood. Was she only to….

"Then have it." he coaxed her into giving in to the craving so clearly written in her half closed garnet irises. The taste would stop her from fully enjoying it but he was more interested in watching her go for the kill at this point than simply drinking. She was slowly leaning in yet stopped after several inches.

"No." she whispered shaking her head before meeting his gaze. "No….."

Afterwards she stood clutching the bunny tightly to her chest. /No...no.../

"Set it free." Alucard's words came bright light, a lifeline to someone struggling to stay afloat. His hands cupped her shoulders squeezing gently. "The choice of life or death is always there little one, everything is permitted. But the choice must be personal, yours, and if made accepted and lived by." He bent his head so that his mouth could whisper straight into her right ear. "Make the choice."

The youngling stared at the warm bundle in her arms as if pondering the deep voice's words. Then, a moment later, she walked away from the dirt path and in between the old trees. There she kneeled and after hugging the fluffy creature one last time released it onto the grass below while whispering something into his long ears. The rabbit started to move with caution sniffing and testing the air round him before scurrying along till his snow white body disappeared from sight; lost to vastness of the ancient forest.

"Seras." Alucard said whilst coming up behind her. She did not even notice him moving. His left hand took her by her left upper arm lightly turning her around. She smiled as she caught sight of him and spoke. "Silly master." her words came out in between a lovely smile and a sweet sigh. "We don't eat rabbits. And...he needs to go home..."

"Long ago you at..." Alucard stopped himself captured by the look in her ruby eyes: so sincere, so utterly hopeful...innocent. Should he reveal she'd upon them in the past, fed on his behalf as he'd commanded it so to keep her alive. Its heart had tempted her yet he refused its obvious invitation. why when the night before she'd caused tens of casualties most of which mot likely dead. A mere _rabbit_ held her back. and yet as he continued to gaze upon her he could not bring himself to shatter such a glorious sight. She was so beautiful...and she was still waiting for him to finish. His eye softened as he stroked her left cheek once. "You had one, long ago as a pet. You loved him greatly." he was not disappointed, not in the least. Her face lit up...so...if only...

The rumbling earth broke them apart as her eye shifted to the side. Beneath them the soil moved, little by little, the feeling got stronger and easier to notice. Something big was rapidly approaching. And as the rumbling intensified another sound soon joined in: neighing, sometimes deep and sometimes high, a different tone and voice each time. A small group of pitch black stallions appeared in the distance as if born from the darkness of the ancient forest. Many pairs of hooves stomped the hard soil beneath the creature feet in a rethink pace kicking up bits of earth after each contact. They pulled a large and elegant ebony colored coach with gold-brown framing behind them. No driver steered the runaway animals; none except for what seemed to be a very different horse than the rest, a lead horse as all the rest were pared up. They came quickly, like words in the wind one minute there and gone the next. The coach stopped right in front of the two vampires, its door automatically opening as if on command. "This way."

Guiding his young mate Alucard led her towards the opened door while managing to avert her gaze from the marvelous creatures in front. Even so, out of the five black creatures, it was the fr larger lead stallion that succeeded in capturing both her attention and interest for the briefest of moments as she caught glimpse of his large eyes from the corner of her own. They were as crimson as fresh spilled blood as they watched her through the ebony strands of his long curly mane. However, there was little time to continue her exploring for she was seen into the carriage the very next moment and the wooden door closed behind them. Hours passed. The familiar scenery of his ancestral home passed the ancient vampire by as he gazed upon it from the only uncovered window of the running carriage. Years apart had not taken the memories of this place from him. Seras on the other hand, much to his surprise, had fallen asleep again after the first hour into their journey. She rested on her left side in the wide seat opposite of him, her body in fetal position with both arms under her head acting like a pillow. Her legs were drawn to her chest and her hair framed her pale and peaceful face.

The vast forest had yet to set them free. The path chosen was taking them deeper and deeper into the vast darkness towards the huge mountain range within the distance.

"How do you do it? So easily, I can not understand it."

The silence between the night creatures broke with the addition of that one new voice. The darkness, the shadows beneath the sleeping figure of the young draculina shifted and moved until a body formed and remained standing upright between the two seats. Sarcasm and contempt littered each word passed from the figure's lips. "The anger fades so easily while mine continues to fester."

"It wasn't towards me." He answered calmly yet cautioned. "The feeding has helped her. A matter of blood, one I highly doubt you would understand mercenary. Or I am I perhaps mistaken?"

"Forgive me for not being more intimate with you more _personal_ ways vampire."

"Let her forget Pip." It was more than a simple request. His gaze turned from the scenery outside and the two met halfway but his head maintained its position. Alucard looked from the corner of his left eye.

"You mean stop blaming you as the one fact that perturbs her life? As the one who brings harm to her again and again? After all, you're the one she _loves_ most of all, might as well _do_ as **you** _please_."

"It's not about love."

"Then what?" Pip raised his voice but silenced himself before another harsh word could be spoken. He did not wish to wake her peaceful sleep. "What is it about? Worship? She blindly follows you like you're some sort of god. She has her way but then you come and….and you change everything. You bring out this side of her that…"

"And is that why you hate me so or is it yourself you loathe? Because I can have her, touch her whereas you can not? You've lusted for her as well. How pleasurable do you actually think it is to know you're _always_ _somewhere_ there buried deep inside her mind."

"Don't flatter yourself." came his quick response. "Despite what you think of me I have and always will respect her privacy. There are many doors and even more rooms, most of which I stay out of. You don't know how badly she tried keeping **that** one particular **door** locked. One tried to see once, one of the few she'd taken like me." Pip's expression darkened. The vampire's eye narrowed behind the lowered tinted lens. "She didn't just destroy it, she was savage beyond reason. She ripped him from us, from her soul, and destroyed the door, buried it even deeper." At the end he gave off a chuckle. "You on the other hand had no problem barging in. You ripped her apart, you could have killed her! Worse you did to her what that _he_ did to her mother. You did the one thing that has forever haunted her."

"I did not rape her."

"You did!" the mercenary screamed out loud in indignation. "I felt it! The terror, the pain she was in. You took every last bit of dignity she had left without as much as flinching when she begged you to stop!"

The vampire smirked and casually replied. He did not understand, there was so much he did not understand. "I'm not the one she was begging to stop." Unfortunately, his words only infuriated the mercenary more.

"Salaud! Allez à l'enfer! Savez-vous même qu'avez-vous fait?(Bastard! Go to hell! Do you even know what you've done?) Pip cursed at the vampire, each spoken word revealing in his hatred for the said creature. "She'll never be the same! Jamais! It took so long…..have you even the slightest…."

"Yes." Alucard interfered. "Yet how else could it have worked? There is no other way to fight that blood. And it's still inside of her, destroying her."

A very light sigh left the sleeping vampire as she slowly began to wake up after her long deep sleep. The former mercenary took a moment more to study her before he pulled his had over his one good eye and retreated back within the shadows before she could see him. Seras stood rubbing the remaining sleep from her eyes. Her body immediately sensed a change in the way the carriage moved, the air and aura surrounding them. The carriage moved at a much slower pace. She gasped looking outside the window. She had pulled the curtain aside all the way and marveled at the grandeur of such a magnificent sight. It left her speechless. The edge of the cliff they currently traveled on allowed her to see the entire west side of the grand, rock sculptured castle blocking out the horizon as well as the deep wide gorge it ran over. More and more details revealed themselves the closer they got. Even a waterfall appeared from behind a steep patch of rock in the distance. It was hard to make out but something told her she would have an incredible view of it from one of many rooms on that particular side of the castle. Not long after the view shifted once more as the horses turned to cross the wide stone bridge joying the two cliffs together. Their hooves no longer beat against frozen earth; instead they walked upon solid rock, the sound unmistakable.

Seras's expression deemed more than enough of an answer of the old vampire. Her lips were parted in a beautiful smile, eye shining with curiosity as any child's would; a light blush stained her cheeks. Regardless, he still desired to ask and, of course, for her to answer.

"Does it please you draculina?"

The one in question displayed an even softer and tender smile while placing her right hand against the cold window.

"It fits."

"Does it?"

The grand structure rose towards the hidden heaves above with each tower it possessed, one taller than the other. A massive iron gate cracked open revealing a second grated one with spikes at the bottom in the process of rising to offer them safe passage inside. The horses neighed stepping inside one by one as they pulled the black carriage behind them. The twin door closed behind them.

"Home?" Seras asked gently turning for the first time to look at the vampire opposite of her.

"Home draculina." followed his reply.

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To be continued...

So that's it for chapter three, please review. :)

There will be more to come, jut be patient.

bye, bye


	6. Chapter 6 AN IMPORTANT

A.N: Going over the written notes to this story I realized I had missed a chapter. It's stupid, after ll this time, I know but I unfortunately forgot to save this chapter in the same folder with the rest for this story. I found it now as I was lacking the necessary information I needed for a future chapter and couldn't find it anywhere on the computer. Therefore, I reviewed it, rewrote and posted it as the **new chapter 2 of the story(3 in the order posted)**. The rest of the chapters are the same as before. Now the story could have gone on without this part but it holds key information regarding some of the things that have happened and will happen in the future: why is Seras sick, what happened to Walter and so forth.

Again I apologize for the mix up, hope this chapter will explain some of the loose ends you might have so far.

P.S: I will continue to work but I still cannot confirm a date for the next chapter.

shadow out.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 5_

I apologies for the late, very late chapter, but at least I've finally managed to get this one done. I've been very busy, at University all day, so my time's pretty much limited. It took me more than a weak to write this chapter alone, but at least it's a long one to keep you satisfied until I manage to post the next one.

p.s: I've posted the translation to the the text written in Romanian at the end of the chapter. I know I put them in brackets next to the text in my last story, but i wanted it to look better this time.

** Chapter 5**

"_Do you wish me conduct the same experiment? Same tests as before?"_ a male's voice said whilst coming distorted from the speaker of the small cell phone.

"Of course," McCoy answered as his car drove through the almost empty streets in London and his eyes were busy looking out the window. "A few measly subjects do not make convincing argument, or results for that matter. Make sure you have everything when I get there."

"_Understood."_ The first voice was about to go out when the brown haired man stopped him.

"Wait." McCoy paused as if contemplating what to say. "Do not let anyone but the vampire notice you. And make sure, that too, happens to a minimum."

The line went dead. The man closed his cell phone grinning. "Take me to the pier." He told his chauffeur as his car had just exited the airport.

Screams and multiple gunshots filled the night air in the northern part of the docks close to the pier marked as 27 A. For about an hour now the Hellsing resident vampire had been busy cleaning the ground littered with undead filth as he considered it. The ghouls though many in number presented little if not any challenge at all and were dispatched by the devastating touch of silver bullets shot one after another with unmatched precision. He didn't need to raise his gaze beyond that of his tinted lenses to aim; it was far too easy even without doing so. Not even the freaks posed the threat they were made out to be. Of the three barely two had survived to be captured as demanded.

Outside the warehouse complex an elegant black car pulled sometime later and a man dressed in black business suit quickly got out slamming the door behind him. He made his way up and around a small flight of stairs after which he opened a metal door and stepped inside the complex. Four rows of large wooden crates filled the vast space of the large warehouse and formed three paths between them. The fluorescent light from above shone through his short brown hair changing its color as he moved along the middle path towards the figure at the other end and hidden underneath a set of two broken lights; only his knee high boots and the edges of his crimson coat gave him away.

"Jonah," he said whilst looking up towards the rafters above then at the great deal of blood staining the floor behind and all around the vampire. "Has done well it seems. Did they behave any _differently_ than before?" His footsteps echoed in the empty space as he walked up to Alucard and the fingers of his right hand typed rapidly over the keys of his white cell phone. He finished by closing the lid and planting it back into his right pocket.

"You are late." Alucard spoke as if scolding the man in front of him.

"Apologies, but I was detained elsewhere." His gaze moved passed the creature's shoulders to the shadow bound freaks behind him. "They posed no problem?"

"None."

"Then you _have_ decided and accepted my terms as presented? A wise decision." he stated a certainty within his question.

"We shall see how wise it is in due time." The vampire responded with a dramatic change in both tone of voice and appearance as the depth of his baritone turned into a medium one, quite average by many standards, and the anatomy of his entire body melted into something else. His overall height decreased about 5 to 6 cm in total, the length of his hair increased until the short raven strands became mid shoulder long and tied in the back by a brown ribbon. The red of his coat turned dark brown and only reached his knees while underneath it he wore black pants and shoes and a cream colored turtleneck sweater. By the end of his transformation the vampire presenting himself was in all aspects different from the one he was supposed to have been.

"Indeed. But I _trust_ Alucard as the one to have come here, the one to be here and the one to leave this place once we're done. This matter does not leave these walls."

"It will not." Nicolae tells with a mischievous look within his crimson irises. "But I refer from mentioning the rest until further along the road. It is a _somewhat_ dangerous game after all."

"In that case I'll resume myself to _trust_ the notion that as long as the situation nurtured both of our curiosity and fulfills both our needs we shall have common ground to walk upon."

"Agreed."

"Excellent." McCoy said reaching for his cell phone once again. The gadget vibrated just as his fingers came in contact with it. Flipping it open the screen displayed a recently received message. It contained only one word: Done.

"Sooner than expected." He murmured under his breath as his expression changed from a surprised look to a much more devious one that suited his developing plot quite well. He raised his gaze from the screen to peer over it towards the undead creature. "Clean up won't you? And be free to tell Hellsing she can you what she wants. As for me, I shall take my leave. Until next time vampire."

With that said he watched as Nicolae nodded in acknowledgement after which he turned around and began retracing his steps towards the door he first came through. He didn't stick around to see the freaks lives end, their blood flow and stain the concrete ground and their bodies turn to nonexistent dust.

As he reached the door he pushed the metal doorknob down and opened the door to the raging storm outside. Despite the change in season and winter already upon them, it had yet to snow over the city of fog. Stepping outside not a single droplet of ice cold water touched his short light brown hair as a dark grey umbrella was immediately place over it. Jonah, the unknown accomplice he'd referred to earlier and the same man who had not only supplied the so called catalyst substance for their test but had also taken fresh samples from the now dead test subjects, appeared out of nowhere next to his employers side wearing the same dark pants and grey jumper with the hood over his face as to conceal the majority of it. His clothes quickly became soaked from the pouring rain.

"I will be expecting a full report in the morning." McCoy said lighting a cigar. A thin line of smoke rose from the incandescent tip in the small interval between the deep inhale of the cigar's contents into the man's lungs and its release once they were full. A third man, dressed in a chauffeur's clothes, stepped out of the black car and moved around it where he opened the rear door and waited.

"It will not be a problem." Jonah replied as McCoy started walking forward and eventually got in the car leaving him alone in the rain. Once the door shut he adjusted the umbrella over his own head and watched through concealed eyes as the vehicle drove off into the night. He too then descended the small flight of stair leading up to the warehouse's door heading towards his next destination.

Unknown to the neither one of the three men, a fourth party had been watching the entire exchange from afar. Not one had taken notice of him as he stood perched on the roof of the nearby building, his clothes soaking went and clinging to his skin as he made good use of the darkness to hide himself from view so that only the shape and form of his lips and chin gave him away in the far and dim light of a lone security light. The end bud of the crooked cigar between his lips was almost completely burnt. His keen eyes observed the two men interact below until the one wearing the black suite got in his car and drove off. The figure observed a few moments more until the second man, the one carrying the umbrella, also left. The figure straightened his posture and moved back from the edge of the building after which he took the cigar from his lips, threw it on the ground and stomped it with his right foot. He didn't waste anymore time standing there; he'd already seen everything considered to be of importance.

Quickened steps all but glided over the thin reddish-brown carpet sprawled in the exact middle of the long corridor so that its edges stood at equal distance from the base of the walls. The hour late, the owner made sure to remain as silent as humanly possible and not disturb the sleeping residence. The lack of lighting his features well allowing only the basic elements of his silhouette to stand out: tall and slim with broad shoulders and lean hips and left arm dangling parallel to his side carrying something while the right ran through his hair.

Reaching the lat door on his right he pushed the doorknob down opening the door and stepping into the dark room. Even now he made no sound whatsoever despite the slight creek the door usually made when opening, yet still, his presence did not go unnoticed.

"Walter?"

The suddenness of the resident female's voice had his shoulders cringe in response, a barely visible movement, but present none the less. His clothes, a dark grey shirt and black pants, the vest in his left hand, as well as his hair were soaked to the bone and had lingering droplets glistening from catching and reflecting the light from the nightstand lamp. The young teen forced a smile before he turned attempting to smile even brighter when facing her. "Sorry, I didn't think I would wake yo…"

And when it finally happened, the smile faded as quickly at it came to life. There was blood, fresh blood, on Integra's hands, the left holding her stomach and the right with her palm facing upwards and fingers spread.

"I…" she miserably tried to find the right words to explain as quickly as possible, but was given no chance to do so.

"You're bleeding." He stated just moments before shock gave way to anger, anger to concern, and he crossed the room in no time taking hold of her bloodied hand under her wrist. He dropped the matching black vest. "You're bleeding! Why didn't you call someone?"

"It's nothing, it stopped. I ju…"

"How long?" he interrupted yet again as though he hadn't heard a single word. "How long have you been bleeding? Does it hurt?"

"Walter!" Integra shouted back successfully stopping his ranting. His gaze finally raised to meat hers. "I'm not bleeding any more."

"I'm sorry." He sighed. "I shouldn't have yelled. I'll…I'll go get the doct…"

"There's no need. It's already stopped and I don't need to see someone every time it happens. I just need to change."

The knight moved to pass him but he quickly took hold of her right upper arm stopping her.

"_Every time?_ You've bled before." This time he no longer asked; there was hurt in his voice, hurt due to the fact that, if it was true, he'd never been told till now. His hold subsequently tightened. "You're eighth months pregnant you shouldn't bleed."

"It's normal for me." She whispered in a way that had him hold his breath for a moment. What followed after was worse. "I'm sick. I have been sick ever since the first trimester ended. The placenta's not positioned right. A little bleeding means nothing every now and then."

"You…didn't tell me. Why?"

"You don't need to know everything! About me or this child." she replied rather cruelly freeing her arm from his grasp. All the while her mind was protesting to her path of action. She had to do this; she had to push him away just until the sun rose. She just needed a few more hours alone; she needed to do this **alone**.

"It's my child!"

"What of it?"

How badly the look in his deep violet orbs hurt her soul. They would have been enough to convince her otherwise had her resolve not been as strong. "What of it Walter? You're not the one carrying this burden, I am. The decision's mine to make. Mine, not yours!"

She was screaming in his face by now and turning her gaze from him and yet he still did not move an inch. His eyes unsuccessfully searched her face for anything other that cruel, heartless words and matching expression. It was a look he did not recognize, a look she had never _once_ portrayed since the beginning of her pregnancy.

His grip on her arm loosened and his hand slid down to her palm which he tenderly squeezed. The black fabric of his fingerless gloves and the cold touch of the metal rings around his fingers caressed her skin in a shooting touch though not as pleasant as the actual feel of his warm fingers.

"Please...Look at me please." His tone was gentle and pleading, but the knight was not about to turn from this.

"What do you want from me?" Integra said removing her hand away in a hurtful gesture. Her eyes remained unmoving and cold as ice despite her comply with his request. "I can't tell you things if you're not here."

"I wasn't gone that long. And even if I was, you think I do this for me? You don't _know_ where I go." He subtly raised his tone emphasizing the word 'know'.

"I **don't** care w_h_ere you go or _what_ you do!"

Once more she started to move and once again he stopped her this time by raising his left arm in front of her. His forearm brushed against her swollen abdomen and, as the two touched, he felt a light kick from inside.

"Please don't do this. I don't want to argue, not again."

"Let me pass Walter." Integra demanded.

"Why don't you tell me things any more? You used to, all the time."

"Well I don't want to anymore!" she hissed angrily, her breathing increased. "Stop being such a stubborn fool!"

"I have a right to know."

"And you made sure of that, didn't you?" her tone turned accusatory. "First time together and you had to screw me over, didn't you? All in a good day work for the angel of death!"

"You're acting like this is my fault! I never heard you complain!" his patience had grown thin, too thing to bare such unjust accusations any more.

"Well I'm complaining now!" With those words Integra went straight into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. A light click followed signifying she'd locked it as well.

"Integra!" Walter shouted banging on the door with his right fist.

"Leave me alone! I have nothing more to say to you!"

"Open this door!" he demanded no longer wanting to be gentle.

"No!"

"Will you just listen to me damn it?"

"**I don't want** **this** **child**!" she suddenly screamed from behind the door causing the teen to stop midway to hitting the wood a fourth time. His breath hitched inside his chest just as his words did. "And I don't want **you**!"

"Wh…"

"Now leave me the hell alone!"

"Please what a…."

The gun shot piercing the wooden structure of the door just passed his side silenced him in a far worse way that her precious declaration. The bullet embedded itself in the patting of the living chair on the other side of the door. She had a gun, why? For a moment, it was all that could pass through the former angel's mind.

"I said get out!" Integra shouted. "Next time I won't miss and you know it _my angel_. Get the hell away from me!"

By now Walter was already backing up, his feet acting on their own accord, while his mind had temporarily shut down. He swallowed with great difficulty still staring with a blank expression at the damaged door in front of him. And as he regained his senses he was already in the middle of the room with his hands tightly balled into fists. He left without saying a word; didn't even bother to shut the close behind him.

Hearing only silence as the seconds turned into minutes following her most brutal verbal assault, the platinum haired knight dropped the small back gun she'd hidden earlier that day and turned around, leaning her back against the door, and collapsed onto the floor. Her right hand immediately went up to her mouth stopping any sob from coming to life as many hot tears dripped, one after another, down her reddened cheeks. Her beautiful face looked as heartbroken as she felt inside. She drew her knees up as far as they would go given her child and hugged it with her other arm in an attempt to sooth the growing activity within her womb. The baby kicked as though utterly displeased and unhappy regarding the actions of its mother.

Integra let her head follow the example of her back and lean into the wood for support. She took a few calming deep breath struggling to control her body. Unfortunately, the tears still kept coming though not as strongly as in the beginning.

Caressing her belly one last time she moved her right hand behind her and pulled a journal bound in black leather from beneath the shirt of her pajamas. It was the same journal Alucard had _given_, thrown despicably at her feet, the night before.

She opened it precisely where the drawing of the vampire's former runes lay and raked her bloodied fingers over it. The dark red liquid was instantly absorbed and the symbol glowed one single time as the ink sustaining was replaced with her blood. That done, it returned to its normal, black, color.

"I'm sorry Walter." She hugged her child with even more desperation. "I'm so sorry."

It needed to be done.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away somewhere in the vast mountain range of the Carpathian Mountains, the two vampires stood outside the main entrance leading into the grand structure of the ancient stone carved castle. Two large doors at least two and a half metes high and one and a half meters wide each made from thick, dark wood a palm's length in width with intricate carvings from top to bottom greeted them. The carriage and horses were no longer behind them at the bottom of the stairs.

Seras had her head tilted back and facing upwards towards the dark heaves above. Despite the falling white flakes so vast in number each and every cloud was a color ranging from light grey to dark grey, hardly any white at all. They seemed as if to match the distinct coloration of the ancient stones making up the castle. The structure itself had a massive center piece with a tower around which three somewhat thinner ones resided as to form the adjacent wings. Several smaller towers, mostly decorative, completed the entire ensemble. Two were placed on the northern point of the castle while the last stood a solitary one to the east. The inner courtyard was vast and empty if not for the thick blanket of snow covering the ground and a few lone buildings in the far west corner. The walls surrounding it were thick and sturdy though, in someplace, with crushed and broken rocks lined up before them no doubt as part of the former walls which most likely had fallen prey to the passage of time.

Alucard continued to study his child's features and aura. The sudden and intense moment of the thrill, of a new discovery had passed from her system and she seemed awfully calm. There was a silence about her, an eerie and alone sentiment.

"Seras." He called drawing her attention.

"Yes master?" she replied sounding far more eager than normal, yet very much like her old self. His eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion as he studied her form the corner of his eye. She in turn shifted her gaze to face him with a smile gracing her lips. The vampire indulged in the moment a little longer before he removed his glasses with his left hand and lifted her chin with his other one bringing it close so that they almost touched. A light blush adorned her cheeks.

"Do you wish to enter little one?" Her blush only intensified as he attentively brushed their lips together, his husky tone pleasing to her sensitive ears.

"Please…" she whispered confessing immediately.

"This way." He purred quite satisfied with her reaction. The door began to open creaking as it went. Darkness greeted them inside before several candles on the chandelier high above their heads flickered to life bathing the entire room with light. The entrance hall was huge with black square shaped stones lining the mostly barren floor and inner walls. A few carpets, nothing more, decorated the ground and several banners the walls. A grand staircase rose up from the opposite side of the large wooden door. It was wide enough to have 4 people climb it shoulder to shoulder and stood at least 7 feet above the ground in total. It ended in a small walkway around 2 feet wide which in turn split into two branches far smaller than the main staircase. Both of these in turn lead up and ended in two tone archways leading into various wings. Three more doors lined the ground floor, two large dark brown ones and a small black one partially open but sufficient as to offer a glimpse at yet another set of black stairs behind it which would no doubt lead to one other three impressive towers rising into the sky. Torches lit the walls and a long thin crimson carpet lay over the middle of the grand staircase. Its balustrades were thick with rounded, cylinders like pillars supporting it.

"Come draculina. There is more to see." Alucard said placing his right hand on her left shoulder. He pulled her away and led her in the direction of the farthest dark brown door situated to his far left.

"We're not going up?"

"No little one." He chuckled in amused. Why was it, that anyone who enters a castle immediately assumed they had to climb the stairs?

"I wish to show you something else first. It is important."

As the door opened a new room came into view; smaller in size and dimensions but with a large archway on the right wall which let into a third room. This one had many long crimson curtains decorating the walls, reaching from the ceiling down, and in between them various oil paintings mostly depicting portraits of figures long since forgotten or various landscapes. A wide and long wooden table occupied the center with at east ten chairs on both sides and one solitary, throne like one, at the head of it. A fireplace as high as a man and 1.5 m long lay on the wall left of the table with its fire already burning and warming the room. Two more doors opened in the room behind the throne like chair. The elder vampire led her towards the fireplace and stopped in front of the left side curtain. He pushed it aside with his left hand and placed his right upon the cold stone. Red streaks erupted from under his palm and spread out seeping into the cracks binding the stones together. The wall opened up revealing a hidden set of stairs.

"Iți mai aduci aminte de o lecție pe care ai invățat-o cu mine?"(1)

The vampire changed the subject diverting her attention from the newly discovered passageway.

"Lecție?"(2) Seras questioned in return as she mimicked his actions by reaching out with her right arm and brushing her finger tips against the rearranging stones. Alucard placed his over it lightly squeezing. And although his face did not show it, he was quite pleased with the notion that she remembered this part of his legacy: his language.

"E posibil ca ceva din ce vei vedea să-ți facă rău. E important să-ți amintești, cum să-ninvingi ceea ce-ți face rău, ceea ce doare. Propria ta frica."(3)

"Şi dacă nu pot?"(4) her gaze was entirely focused on their jointed hands.

"Atunci iți voi arăta din nou."(5) He whispered tenderly against the left side of her face, his lips mm apart from her closed eyelid, as he crossed his arm in front of him and cupped her right cheek with his gloved left hand. He gazed into her eyes and he let his hand drop. Afterwards the two vampires climbed up the stairs passing two lit torches on their way. A second door soon opened on its own as Alucard reached it and led them into a small room hosting 5 medium sized bookcases, three on the left and two on the right, and three large windows on the wall directly in front of them. They were high enough to almost touch the ceiling and were framed on each side by dark brown, velvet curtains. The bookcases were spaced apart so that walking in between wouldn't be problematic. And except for them the only other item in the chamber was a small round black table with a thin leg curved at the end and a rectangular shaped reddish brown carpet in the middle of the room itself; its width lay parallel to the wall before them while its length faced the sides of each of the five bookcases.

Closing the door behind her Alucard placed both his large palms over her shoulders and gently guided her forward towards the middle window. Unlike the night before, the snow had yet to fall and so the moon shone uninhibited, its light passing through the crystal clear glass of the furthest window on the left. Around a quarter of the distance from the now disappeared door Seras stopped abruptly, grounded her feet to the carpet and floor and refused to take another step forward. Her eyes stared blankly with small, fixed pupils and dilated irises at the middle window.

"Seras…." Alucard spoke whilst maintaining a low, husky and careful tone not meant to scare or frighten her. His actions brought little comfort though, as she immediately stepped back crashing into his hard chest gasping for breath with frantic eyes searching the room from left to right as they moved at rapid pace. His voice fell on deaf ears as she began to see blood, fresh blood, run along the cold stone in between the cracks then over the entire length and width of both the walls and the floor itself as the liquid moved closer and closer towards her feet. There was a cry: a low whisper belonging to a tormented cry from a face she could not see. She had a mere glimpse, a fleeting shadow of something, perhaps someone crouched down above all that blood that came and went as quickly as a bolt of lightning. Her body unconsciously started to tremble beneath the safety and support of his hands causing her to push even further into him. She could see the trickle of blood spread around and beneath her right foot darkening more and more until it completely turned raven black and slowly rose as if ready to grab her ankle.

"What is wrong draculina?"

Alucard's voice brought shooting comfort as did his long arm snaking around her middle just under her breasts. His lips brushed against the shell of her ear as his mouth moved in the slow manner required to utter those words to their full advantage.

"It hurts…" Seras whispered, lips quivering in growing intensity. Her left hand immediately took hold of his forearm but then suddenly released it going for her chest instead. "My chest hurts." Her entire body shook and trembled as though suddenly stricken by intense hypothermia. The atmosphere around them darkened, the air becoming increasingly cold so that their breaths turned into small white clouds, and the glass of the three windows began to freeze from the inner corners towards the outer ones. And as the latter passed half of its structure the middle panel started to crack forming a long, irregular groove that rose along the surface of the glass in segments of different sizes at a time, each one accompanied by a unique sound and intensity.

"Bad things…" he heard Seras whisper over and over with increasing fear. "Bad things…happen….in the dark…"

Without warning the blond bent over gasping for air and vomited blood all over the floor. Searing, stabbing pain shot through her causing her knees go give way and be rendered useless; she fell despite Alucard's strong arm wrapped around her.

"It hurts…it hurts…" she had so little strength to speak. Her right arm struggled to hold her as she used it to prop herself up while the left desperately held onto the vampire's wrist. Trails of blood began to leak from her eyes, but instead of being tears, they were quite simply blood and nothing more. Her mouth opened wide as her head dropped to the floor, forehead touching it, and her fangs grew dangerously long. Her gums too began to bleed.

Alucard moved with her as she bent; his upper body partially hovering over her right side and eyes intently focused on her left limb which once again had a bright glowing pattern all over it underneath her sleeve.

"There is nothing to hurt you here." The vampire whispered into her ear while gently pulling her up. His right hand moved, innocently enough, over her chest but the moment it reached the valley between her breasts the pain she felt increased tenfold. She immediately straightened, her back crashing into his chest and head hitting his left shoulder in a silent scream. Alucard's eyes widened at the feel of cold steel penetrating the back of his gloved hand and going in all the way through skin and bone alike as if purposely seeking her flesh. Blood burst from the wound and dripped down the length of his forearm and her abdomen as he quickly came to the conclusion that is wasn't his blood alone that had been sought.

Laughter filled his ears just before he felt Seras's head fall like a rock on his shoulder and her hand lose its grip on his wrist. The vision of a running body flashed through his mind: a dark grey coat long to the floor, white gloves and a long chain with a cross around his throat, face hidden behind white bandages with blazing orbs and an unusually evil smirk. The appearance of the blades came just before the figure's existence disintegrated one step away from reaching them. He no longer felt the searing sensation of blessed silver burning his flesh, but the wound it inflicted remained.

"Master…." Seras's tired voice broke his concentration. His eyes immediately fell on her lovely pale face, turned in his direction, with just a hint of her _old_ sanity struggling to stay on the surface. A fresh, thick trickle escaped the right corner of her lips and her entire mouth was stained in the blood she had thrown up.

Alucard remained silent as he pried both her white shirt and raven jacket open revealing her frail skin and black lace bra. The vertical cut directly over the thin strap of fabric holding the two cups together matched the one on his hand in every way, yet far more disturbing was the gaping hole across from it. He knew of but one thing that could have caused such a horrific injury over her right breast: his hand and his gun the night he turned. And in that moment, he finally realized what was happening to her.

"_Listen to me servant!"_

He remembered, all too well, what had once taken place in that very room.

"_Release me…Release me so I can save her."_

"Why am I bleeding?"

Seras's question brought an end to the lingering sound of his own voice inside his head. His eyes fell of her face while she was busy looking at her herself and towards her chest. She had raised her left hand and had placed her fingers over the large quantity of crimson practically flowing out of her like a torrent of water from a dam.

"Nothing. Do not worry about it." He quickly responded placing his bleeding appendage over hers. The consequence of his touch and blood gave a shooting and warm sensation than took most of the pain away. The liquid seeped between their joined fingers and mixed with hers. "Relax you body Seras, relax and let the pain flow from you. Adu-ți aminte."( Remember)

"Where am I?" she asked breathlessly while _attempting_ to do as told. "What…what is this place?"

"Home draculina. Do you not remember?"

"No." the whisper to pass her lips was a very faint one. Her eyelids started dropped. "Is it nice?"

"Yes." He replied into her golden hair kissing her temple. It wasn't long afterwards that he felt the tension in her system leave her bit by bit and the muscles relaxing despite the still vivid blood flow. The edges of the twin wounds slowly shifted beneath the fabric of his glove and her palm reforming inch by inch.

"What are you doing to her now?"

Unexpectedly, the all too familiar French accent of the one-eyed mercenary reached his ears full of loathing and sarcasm. It preceded the unmistakable sound of metal hitting stone and that of his body taking shape from the foot of the draculina's shadow. The metal object revealed itself to be a round yellow-brown doorknob which, after touching the floor, spun around twice in a small circle next to Pip's left boot. The overall image of the mercenary was distorted as row upon row of spear shaped tendrils escaped his body at various intervals apart: arms, legs, shoulders, hair, from anywhere and everywhere like clockwork.

He didn't allow the ancient vampire time to respond. "There are no rooms, no more rooms at all left in her mind. She's screaming inside. **What are you doing**?"

"She's reliving pain. For once, I am not doing anything to her."

While speaking he attempted to search Pip's accusation for himself. Unfortunately, her mind was devoid of the possible answers he could have found. He found nothing but a dark and empty void with the occasional speak of light shinning from time to time like a dieing star in the cold, vast emptiness of space. There truly were no more rooms whatsoever. The familiar pattern of her mind, senses and powers were slipping passed him like grains of sand in an open palm.

Everything he'd wanted to share with her was going awfully wrong and nothing was happening as he'd wanted to, or had at least planned to.

Straightening his back a little he removed his large hand from her chest content to at least find the large gunshot wound gone from her smooth skin and the latter flawless and intact once again. Had the same also been said about the first vertical one, he may have looked and felt less worried and concerned. He trailed it with the tips of his index and middle finger removing some of the crimson pouring out, but it refilled not a second later.

"Stop touching her." Pip threatened despite his best efforts to keep his voice neutral. Even so the rest of his body tensed and his hands balled into fists that tightened more and more until the brown leather of his gloves screeched. He wasn't at all demanding or screaming at the vampire, yet, unfortunately for the latter, his lack of response, be it verbal or physical, ended up enraging him to the brink of collapse.

Alucard was busy biting into his wrist to give his child some more of the blood she required when the wind was knocked out of him by a hard punch to the right cheek. He fell backwards on his back, mouth bleeding from his cut lip. T the same time, due to the suddenness o the assault, Seras's body dropped on its right side and her temple hit the floor rather hard causing her to grown in pain. She had barely had a taste of her master's blood against her lips before the sweet offering was brutally plucked from her mouth and her ears picked up the sound of the two men fighting. Her crimson eyes blinked twice focusing her distorted vision and saw as they came at each other, fists raised and ready, and struck at the same time hitting each other time and time again in the face, chest and jaws.

"I've had just about enough of you **mercenary**!" Alucard shouted licking the blood running from his broken lips and nose as he pulled back. He didn't demand, he ordered. "**Stay out of this!**"

"Unless you make me you can go fuck yourself **vampire**!" Pip spat in return. There would be no turning back, that much he'd already decided. He too straightened his posture, wiped the blood from his face with his left sleeve and cracked his knuckles. "I say we put an end to this, here and now, you and me and unless you kill me I'll continue to be a fucking thorn in your side **salaud**!"

"Is that so?" the vampire started to chuckle then laugh with pure evil delight. His shoulders shook from the effort as his head continued to remain down, gaze cast to the tips of his boots, and face hidden behind his ebony locks. "Then I shall enjoy watching you suffer." His lips retained their frightening smirk as the twin molten lava orbs peered up at the victim before him burning with savage, raw emotion.

The clothes over the right side of his body morphed together with the former into a swirling black mass which then grew into a huge black shape with blazing eyes and large, sharp teeth protruding from his mouth. The demonic beast came growling, roaring to life with his jaw opening wide and tongue falling from his mouth. Both dripped saliva and, as the hound finally acknowledging Pip's presence, he growled once again, a deep and menacing sound from the pit of his unformed chest.

The mercenary stood his ground completely unaffected.

"Is that the way you want it?" he asked his opponent in a cocky tone smirking as well. Afterwards he moved to remove the brown hat from his head tossing it far away. "Don't think you're the only one." His own right arm began to morph, but unlike Alucard, he chose from the very start to fully change his body. His legs, arms and upper body gave of lager waves of slow moving shadows which then rapidly moved encasing his human form head to tows. The mass grew in size until, lastly, a large leg and paw matching in color that of his reddish brown hair stepped forward with outgrown nail scratching the otherwise smooth surface of the stone tablet beneath it. The rest of the shadows parted revealing the large body of a wolf while both Pip's voice and face partially appeared over its head in the last remaining parts of the disappearing mass. "If she can do it so can I!"

The wolf screeched and charged as the very last tendril of shadows disappeared and the two beasts clashed against each other violently. Both their mouths opened wide, teeth at the ready. They bit each others jaw in that very first strike and then, almost simultaneously, let go and went for a different body part just as fast. It seemed that both were a match, but then the brown wolf changed his strategy and allowed, in a rather dangerous move, to be wounded in order to gain advantage. Baskerville's mouth clamped onto his left hip while his front paws raked over his ribs and hind leg dragging his claws without mercy all the way down exposing raw and bleeding flesh.

The lower half of Pip's body went down, hind knees touching the ground, as the upper half of his body tensed, muscles tightening, in order to stand his ground. His jaws clenched growling with savage furry as he fought off the sudden pain until it ended. Seizing the moment, he turned on the man controlling the beast and attacked his left leg. He bit, pulled and jerked to his head to the side ripping both flesh and bone alike. Alucard's leg was severed in half making him loose his balance and grown in pain. The severed limb went long with Pip's head as he maneuvered his body away from the black hound and around the vampire's form; he clenched his jaws and bit the limb in half spraying crimson all over his muzzle. Everything happened in the span of a few seconds.

Unfortunately, Alucard quickly regenerated his leg and smashed it into the floor while wrapping his left arm around the wolf's neck in a chocking grip and throwing it halfway across the room. Baskerville move immediately after and the two creatures began their dance anew long before Pip's paws even touched the ground and his claws raked deep grooves into it stopping his momentum. Only his hind feet stayed stationary to accomplish said feat as the front on tangled with those of the black hound.

"Is that all you've got?" Alucard mocked in a terror inflicting voice which added depth to his natural baritone. "We've barely just begun. The evening is still so young." Every word held the promise you future pain, destruction and personal enjoyment. He allowed the rest of his body to join with that of the demon dog's and the end result was a far worse creature than a mere, _simple_, hellhound: a black beast almost double in size to the large brown wolf, at least 7 feet on all fours and another half foot or so taller when on his hind legs, with four pairs of hellish eyes focused solely on its prey. The top three were far smaller than the dominant pair and partially hidden by long strands cascading down either side of his throat above the shining ebony coat covering his flesh. The imposing wolf like shape of his body stood tall and proud and imposing: a large chest cavity with broader shoulders than hips and a thin, lean waist, vibrated with the force of his growl while his own claws, far larger and sharper, cut straight through the stone of the floor instead of simply scratching at its surface. His long, elegant tail rose in dominant fashion. The first time in more than a year since he'd used this particular form and now the wild and demonic features of hound from hell shone far greater. He was all **beast** this time, _hardly_ any **human** traits at all.

Bleeding from the inflicted wound, Pip rose uninhibited as Baskerville disappeared completely, and quickly mended his injuries. A thin black mist covered the gashes like bandages healing them instantly. He growled and the vampire followed his lead not a second later; their joined voices echoed within the entire castle shaking it to the very core.

Once again they charged, but now the advantage belonged to the vampire as his much larger size easily dominated the smaller reddish-brown wolf pushing him backwards until both passed though the wall like shadows finally leaving the room and the draculina alone. Pip's back crashed against the thick stone railing of upper left branch of the grand staircase cracking it as the two resurface from the darkness on the ground floor of the castle. With a second to spare immediately after contact was made, Alucard pushed even harder and forced the mercenary's back to brake through the structure completely. The two fell crashing down from the platform onto the floor below. His front paws pushed his entire weight onto the smaller wolf's form allowing his claws to sink all the way and even crack the floor under the latter's spine from the force of the impact. His jaws clamped shut and his upper lips pulled back releasing a powerful snarl born from the depths of his chest as his exposed teeth faintly sketched the appearance of a satisfied, devilish grin. The brown wolf, however, despite the shock of the fall used his hind legs to push against Alucard's abdomen and threw him over his head whilst turning on his side afterwards and backing up in the space beneath the left branch until his hind legs and tail touched the room's wall; his mouth opens dripping blood from his injured gums as he breathes in raged breaths.

The black hellhound advanced, the strong muscles in his forearms and shoulders rippling beneath his fur as he took one step after another.

"Now you die." He spoke with unwavering certainty, yet so lost in the moment he failed to notice the shift in Pip's good eye and the true meaning of his words. He replied in smug fashion with words spoken in a far too confident tone for even his own good.

"I wouldn't."

Alucard launched forward snarling most ferociously refusing to listen. Pip moved to the side, attempting to crouch down and avoid the set of deadly jaws, just as fast in order to get out of the way, but the sudden yelp not belonging to either of them brought everything to a screeching halt. Beautiful pale blond hair instead of reddish brown fur filed in the gaps between the large hellhounds sharp teeth that had deeply embedded themselves into the soft flesh it covered. All four pairs of eyes widened at the sudden taste of the draculina's blood all over his large tongue.

"No." his ears picked up the mercenaries light voice coming form the brown wolf. "No!" he then made to shout as the severity of the situation became apparent.

Pip had seen her coming, had seen the pleading look written all over her face from over Alucard's right shoulder, yet had immediately presumed her presence would make the vampire stop as it always had in the past. His first reaction was to run towards her and shout her name.

The terror inflicting growls fully woke Seras causing her crimson orbs to snap open once the image laid out before them focused enough to differentiate in between the various shapes and colors. They were shortly followed by other howls, growls and yelps as the vampire and mercenary continued to fight. Her pupils decreased in size quite dramatically while the overall shade of her irises darkened to a point where they seemed entirely black. Her head turned in the direction of the wall the two _creatures_ disappeared into and she turned on her right side supporting her weight on her elbow. Her golden hair cascaded down her shoulder and pooled at her side as she slowly raised her gaze towards the wall in question. She went to move when a frail voice stopped her.

"Don't." the voice had a melodious tune and a yet developed tone appearing as though a mix between average and baritone; _still_, a child's voice. Seras got up on her knees regardless either ignoring the voice's plea or not truly hearing it.

"Seras no." this time she stopped. This time a small, pale hand held onto her left wrist and she felt the touch of fabric brush against the outer side of her left thigh. The hand applied gentle pressure pulling her backward. She went along with it and repositioned her legs under her so that she was able to sit upon them without problems. "Please do not."

The draculina turned her head, but only just, and peered at the hooded silhouette next to her. Several strands hindered her view, yet as long his features were also carefully hidden, she wouldn't have seen much without them in the way either. Her gaze dropped to their joint hands and the small, pale skinned hand incredibly warm to the touch. She hesitated at first, but then boldly began to turn her wrist around so that her palm could attentively touch his.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, she never got to. Their fingers barely brushed against each other when the truly profound growl erupted from the hellhound's chest reached her ears. It came seconds after the sound of cracking stone had. Her eyelids immediately dropped, head leaning forward, and a new, thin trail of crimson liquid fell from her bleeding mouth. She pulled her hand away covering her mouth with it and before he knew it she was gone from his sight and disappeared in a trail of gold.

"Stop!" the figure pleaded one final time without success as he immediately recognized the haunting look in the golden haired draculina's distant eyes. Regrettably, it was already too late to act: he lost both his hold on her hand as well as her presence before his eyes.

It was then that the bone chilling yelp echoed louder than anything else trapped ever trapped or condemned to an excruciating end inside those ancient walls. Within seconds the cloaked figure appeared leaning down over the collapsed part of the balustrade and looking down, hidden irises wide and disbelieving, at the bloody scene laid at his feet. The mercenary's cry came before he had a chance to say anything at all and so he could do nothing more than watch the wolf charge at his opponent and smash into his right side thus breaking the strong iron hold the latter had on Seras's body.

And as Alucard's jaw relaxed she slipped out easily, yet the edges of his fangs till managed to cut her skin from the simplest of movement and added fresh new flavor to the already intoxicating taste of her flesh. Distancing herself from his mouth, Seras caught a mere glimpse of the hound's head turning and drooping so that it effortlessly grasped a patch of fur over Pip's shoulders and hurled his body away from his in a semicircle towards his right. His side brutally struck the corner formed from the joining of the room's back wall and the large base of the staircase's body. That accomplished he released his hold but quickly repeated his actions by grabbing the wolf's left hind leg, sinking his teeth all the way, and swinging him back and fourth a few times like a rag doll in need of cleaning.

Pip dissolved his leg after the third blow, turning into a black shadowy mass, thus permitting his escape from the savage onslaught which had already successfully broken most of his ribs. He had no other alternative than to return to his human form. He knelt on the floor, panted heavily and he raised his lowered head, bangs over his eyes, just as Alucard moved in for the kill. He saw his teeth glisten; saliva drip, jaws open wide and his throat distend as his tongue fell out moments before the point of impact. He never expected another set of colors to flash before his eye: gold.

In a split second the image reflected in all eight crimson orbs no longer matched that of the brown haired male but frail, pale skin and a sad and distant look. The vampire barely had time to stop himself, turn his head and shut his mouth halfway prior to the right side of his head pressing against Seras's ample chest and flat stomach. Her right arm lay sprawled over his muzzle a few cm under his eyes and trapped between his ebony fur and the base of her throat while the left hung lifeless by her side dripping crimson from the tips of her fingers. The warm red liquid ran in spiral fashion underneath the stained sleeve of her opened white shirt. She made no further movement and her forehead tenderly resting over the space in between the hound's pointed ears but not quite touching it.

"Mignonette move!"

Pip shouted in anger getting to his feet while the monstrous creature responded in kind by snarling viciously through clenched teeth. His chest vibrated with the effort turning the simple snarl into a deep rumble and he pushed forward as if ready to attack once again despite the draculina's presence by his side holding him back. Luckily, he had no further reason to be hostile as the mercenary fell back down on his right knee before he was even halfway up. His shoulders shook and his body bent over failing to respond to the simplest of commands.

"Mignon…." He could speak no further as the moment he raised his gaze he saw the long, black and crimson tendril with jagged edges and irregular movement that swayed in a nonexistent wind and took up the space her left limb should have normally occupied. The final segment of said _appendage_ was bent at an odd angle and touched the floor where their two shadows met. Only after he followed its trail did he notice the tendril was slowly swallowing him up.

"Merde!" he cursed under his breath feeling the rest of his body start to fade just as his legs had long since started doing. "You're loving this aren't you, **you bastard**!" He continued to speak as calmly as possible, but in the end could not go the distance and hissed those last two words with as much hatred his dieing breath could muster.

As for the transformed vampire, he refused to further acknowledge the mercenary's existence and instead focused all his attention towards the frail creature leaning so dependently against him. The warmth of her breath caressed the top of his head as she softly sighed and finally allowed her left cheek to be buried in his ebony fur.

The hound lowered his tail in submission and curled it next to his right hind leg as he simultaneously closed the three smaller sets of eyes; the dominant pair regained both their sanity and ruby red color and returned to normal. The slit pupils rounded, hard and tense muscled relaxed and the sharp, curled claws retracted into the large, soft pads of his paws. His chest rumbled very differently than before as the sound it emanated was meant to soothe and not intimidate.

"Answer me damn it!"

Alucard hadn't expected the Frenchman to raise his voice one final time. Neither had he seen his actions follow such words.

Pip grabbed hold of the mass once representing Seras's left arm and pulled her from her master's embrace before vanishing into nothingness. With no time to react the vampire could only watch her fall like a lifeless doll, the fingers of her right hands brushing against his fur as it all happened, and part the mass of shadows left behind in two.

"Ca…." the figure above began to shout demanding he catch her. His body tensed and his small hands gripped the shattered outer edge of the railing so hard they lost all color and even cut themselves in the sharp edges left behind. The swiftness of his movement exposed a little more of his face, especially the somewhat wavy raven hair almost shoulder long in length. His posture relaxed and his mouth closed the moment he saw Alucard catch the draculina in the last possible moment. The latter's body appeared from the darkness leaving the imposing form of the hellish hound behind as the familiar shape and color of his red leather coat and gloved hands formed in his place. His right arm curled around her waist and lower back, fingers spreading wide over its surface, while the rest did the same around her slender shoulders. The golden strands of silk like hair mixed with the crimson staining the floor as it pooled like a halo around her form and over his forearms.

Seras's left arm slowly, painfully slow, regenerated retaking shape as she whimpered with little strength. Much of the crimson in the overall black of her powers turned out to be blood now that her body had no further use of them.

Alucard stood hovering over her and watching as a heightened sense of inadequacy, helplessness and self-loading washed over him from his lack of self-control. Not only had he damaged her, but he'd acted in full awareness of the situation, in control and lust for pain and death. His smoldering eyes watched her so intently that the sudden presence of a foreign hand in his line of sight actually startled him.

Hesitant fingers reached out carefully touching the top of Seras's head despite her unconscious pull from even such a light and tender touch.

"What _did_ you do?" the unknown person asks raising his hooded head whilst maintaining his identity hidden. There was genuine concern within his words.

"I had **no** _chance_ of doing much of anything. Not what I wanted to at least." The vampire replied setting her down very carefully.

"Think that would have saved her?" the haunting tone of Pip's voice echoed in a dieing breath spoken from one of the retracting pools of blood beneath her left arm. It chuckled at the irony of the situation. "There is nothing left to save, don't you understand? You think pumping your blood into her will save her? The single flaw I can find in that is…I too had hoped for it." The voice broke off for a moment. "And yet the truth is you **can't** and you know it. She will never be….there is no escape any longer and not for the likes of you." he then shouted with his final breaths. "All that talk about making her strong will die as such, as 'talk' and nothing you do will change it. **Thank you**, because of you Seras is no more. She's been washed away by the tide you created."

The last flicker of his flame died like a blown out candle.

"The room was no meant to save her." Alucard whispered, as though offering reply to the Frenchman's words, in a tone hardly suppressing the sound of a hummingbird's wings and with such a distant look in his eyes that it betrayed his distant thoughts. Next to him the draculina showed a small sign of awareness by turning on her side towards the youngling and curling her body in a protective fetal position with her knees drawn halfway up and her arms acting like a pillow for her head; her breathing was slow and steady but the floor she lay upon soaked in her blood.

"She won't last till morning." The figure said brushing a few out of place strands form her peaceful face. His actions allowed the right half of his cloak to partially cover and shield her legs like a blanket. Except for the trickle of crimson still running for the left corner of her mouth and the ever glowing spiral wound marring her _finally_ regenerated left limb, nothing else brought either pain or discomfort; nothing bled.

"Then **keep** her alive." Alucard warned dangerously before he spared but a glance more and then stood up and left the room by dematerializing.

/Force her familiar, it will heal her./He went and sought the only help he could find. The situation was no longer in his hands; it had long ago left them entirely bare.

Seras sighed, weak as though awaking from slumber, yet instead of waking curled further in the protective embrace of the ball, cloak and unknown touch. The hooded child sat beside her, legs bent at the knees and next to her head and leaned over her head just enough for the line of his jaw, chin and lips to touch the light. A solitary, rebel strand of raven hair joined then as if defiant and was shortly after followed by the flash light revealing a quick glimpse of his face: eyes still hidden but glowing in a blue more vibrant than the deepest of oceans; more so when his lips curled upwards sketching a smile.

.

.

.

"It this all you require my master?" a young female voice echoed in a beautifully decorated bathroom with marble floors and walls. Located at the edge of a large two story high house the room had three out of four walls replaced by windows, the last of which was actually a double door leading out into a small terrace, thus offering a gorgeous view of the night sky. Thin and transparent light green curtains framed each window individually while between every four lay a tall black candle stand each one carrying three candles; a total of twelve candles excluding the three small ones which lit the edge of the tub. The girl in question had short light brow hair barely reaching the tips of her shoulders when straight, but now curled outwards and held on either side of her face by two beautiful gold pins in the shape of lilies. She wore a pair of loose fitting dark brown pants with black sandals and a form fitting golden-brown colored turtleneck sweater. Her eyes were crimson, her skin as pale as ivory and her lips coated in a pale rose. Her right hand diligently stirred the warm and scented water checking the temperature.

"Yes, thank you Madalene."

A second melodic voice answered just before an even more stunning woman entered the room. With far longer hair to match the color of the young woman's sweater, she held it up in a loose bun with many stray strands sticking out from it, the largest of which cascaded down her left sounder. Only her hands and feet were bare as the rest of her pale skin was covered by a silk cream colored robe.

She walked up the tub and waited for her fledgling to stand and leave before getting into the awaiting water. The latter smiled in acknowledgement and left closing the door behind her.

The auburn vampire's bath was uneventful as she leaned back to bask in the warm water and relax her body. It was only some time later that the unusual flicker of the candles surrounding her caught her attention. After that just a few more seconds passed before the double windowed terrace door burst open violently causing all the lit candles within the room to blow out due the strength of the accompanying wind. Both hinges crashed against the stone while the chamber simultaneously went dark all except for the frail light of the night itself cascading through the remaining windows. A blanket of shadows entered through the now open doorway and rose along the walls covering everything in their wake. Regardless, the auburn haired vampire wasn't fazed in the least despite the sudden sense of impending danger, the drop in temperature or the sound of quickened footsteps rapidly approaching the room's main door. Two knocks and a concerned female voice came from behind rising out the eerie silence associated with the frightening shift in atmosphere like a ray of hope. The door opened a jar.

"Master is…"

"Stay where you are." The mistress vampire commanded softly without demanding and without taking her eyes, even for a moment, off of the unlocked terrace door and the long, light green swaying curtains halfway above the ground. Something else had made its existence known during the short time frame required for that particular exchange of words. The mysterious figure took refuge in the cover of darkness: a tall and imposing silhouette whose essence seemed to move as one with the material of the curtains while keeping up to their exact rhythm. Above the blanket of shadows one stood out most as belonging to the unexpected visitor: long and thin and reaching the other end of the room with a far larger base than tip, a base that danced with the cold winter wind. As the unmoving crimson irises of the female vampire narrowed, its silhouette reformed into three basic elements consisting of the dark crimson leather coat, flowing raven hair, long and straight that passed the man's lower back, and lastly the black leather knee-high boots adorning his feet. The mesmerizing dance of his ebony colored locks contracted greatly in color against the curtains, black against pale green, as he remained stationary like a statue: unmoving, unaltered, un-aging, and patiently waiting for acknowledgement to cross his path.

"Have you come calling _Count_?" she asks in a melodious voice worthy of any great opera singer. Her hands start to move once more scooping up water as to wash away the reaming soap from her left shoulder. "It has been quite a while since our last encounter," she purposely ignored his presence while talking and did not turn to look at him once. "Has it not?"

Alucard stood his ground hidden behind the cloak of the night with only his eyes as beacons of light and said nothing.

"You are welcome to join me."

"I am not here for _pleasure_." He eventually found his voice and moved forward stepping over the threshold of the balcony. He did not go further.

"Then what _are_ you here for? You are not someone to simply _appear_ after such a long time. Centuries, was it?"

Gesturing with her left hand she showed him a vanity table and mirror where a crystal pitcher filled with blood wine and several empty glasses next to it lay.

"I fear I may have lost my taste for _virgin_ blood." He spoke with indifference not bothering to glance in the direction of the liquid. "I require something else, assistance."

It wasn't so much what he said but the tone and manner in which he said it that caught the female vampire's attention. Her shoulders tensed but hardly noticeable.

"Assistance?" there was mistrust in the sound of her voice. "You call, in the dead of night, requiring _assistance_? It that all?"

"I have not changed that much Elena." He grinned at her displaying emotion for the first time. "My secrets are still my own."

"So it would seem."

Elena studied his profile a moment longer before placing both hands over the edges of the tub. She rose uninhibited out of the water, her flawless pale skin glistering as the light got reflected off of the crystal clear beads running down her skin. Her feet dripped small amounts of water as they touched the bare floor and her right hand went up to the piece of jewelry holding her hair up and removed it. Her beautiful auburn locks, long, curly and shiny, cascaded down her back in a breathtaking movement meant to shatter the strongest of wills. She was tall, at least half a head taller then the draculina and easily reached Alucard's face without having to stand on her tows. That done she scooped up the cream colored silk robe and put it on in a slow deliberate fashion.

The elder vampire did not react and his cold stared remained as such, cold and emotionless. He neither blinked nor turned from her whilst gazing upon her exposed flesh from the corner of his left eye.

"There _is _more, isn't there?" Elena asked him as she pulled her hair from under the robe and ran her fingers through it straightening it out. She smiled at him displaying knowledge forged in a vampiric bond. "I've seen that look before, a look that precedes something _difficult_ to accept, to decide; perhaps, even troublesome to accomplish. If so it begs the question: what is it and are you _prepared_ for such an act?

"We do what we must, in this life or the next. We do as we must."

Elena's lips curled in a brighter smile as she fully turned to face him still tying the cord around her waist and then began to walk towards him. She had expected those words just not so soon.

"Preaching the same speech I see? I would have though you outgrowing this by now."

"My freedom will not be ripped from my hands by far greedier ones. That is one reason."

"But not your motivation, of that I'm sure. You would have long since done something bout that." She confirmed the look in his narrowed eyes. Her right arm reached out to him allowing her palm to spread over the surface of his chest as she closed the distance between them. "So, is there _truly_ nothing more?" she almost brushed their lips together without needing to stand on her tows as she moved her hand up his broad chest, over his heart and well defined muscles beneath his clothes, and then the inner part of his left shoulder. It moved along the shape of his clavicle and then followed along the path of his neck muscles until it reached its final destination: his left cheek. Applying the right amount of pressure she pulled him in and fully joined their lips together in a lingering kiss that her eyes close of their own accord in order to savor the long forgotten taste.

"Your price." the vampire pressed on wanting to resume previous matters without further delay. He remained utterly unaffected by Elena's blatant display of affection towards him.

"You know my price."

The soft, creamy robe fell off her right shoulders in plain reply that required no further explanation. Alucard's eyes unconsciously twitched as his mind processed the information. There was no easy decision to be made despite the already obvious reason as to why he should unquestionably deny such offer.

His hesitation failed to go unnoticed as Elena quickly picked up on it and pulled away from his face. It surprised her, no doubt about it, yet she made neither reference to it no any other move than to raise her right and brush a stray lock of perfect raven hair behind his left ear.

"Then were are done."

"No." Alucard raised his voice while wrapping his right arm around her middle and crushing her to his chest. She could practically taste the struggle consuming his eyes.

"What do you want Vlad? What has you so t…"

Alucard crushed his mouth to hers pushing all thoughts aside. His lips ravaged hers in a searing and passionate kiss which left her panting and moaning as she just as eagerly responded. He moved but the momentum of his movement wasn't felt, just the coldness of the stone wall against her barely covered skin the moment she lay trapped in between its structure and his body. Her bare legs no longer touched the floor as they wrapped themselves around the vampire's lean hips.

The creamy robe fell off her shoulders, the cord pooled at her feet and the rest of the fabric soon joined.

His leather coat was not far behind…

A good while later, the hour close so dawn, and the two vampires had still not passed the preliminaries of their earlier discussion. Elena comfortably leaned against the headboard while her left arm lay across her lap, her left leg fully extended and under the cover of her robe, the right drawn to her chest and exposed. Her right hand was busy moving black and dark green cards back and forth in various arrangements in front of her.

"How much longer?"

Alucard's deep voice made Elena turn her eyes from her cards for a moment and stared at the scantily clothed creature of the night: shirt, pants and boots all present, yet the black pants were somewhat creased and his white cotton shirt, though tucked in, had all buttons except for the very last one open. Ad that to the god like appearance of his beautifully pale, flawless skin and chiseled chest, the grooves well defined although the muscles themselves were anything but bulged and overgrown but lean and wiry and just begging for attention. The large 'v' formed by the shirt's edges brought them out even more especially after some of his untamed, ebony tresses went so far as to cove small parts of both his broad shoulder. The vast majority of the soft mane, however, lay over his back covering both the curve of his spine as well as the dents his shoulder blades made in the thin piece of fabric. The base of his thick throat was framed by the open collar of the shirt which then led up to his Adam's apple, well-defined jaw line and somewhat parted lips showing off just a hint of deadly fangs.

He faced her in profile, not two maybe two and a half feet from the edge of the large bed, gaze seemingly far, far away.

"You haven't told me what you wish to see. I need purpose before giving results."

"I have nothing to see. It is not what I want from you." as he spoke he raised his left arm producing something in his out stretched gloved hand. Both the shape and size of the black object surfacing out of swirling darkness resembled that of any card in Elena's possession. The small rectangular box had crimson markings upon it near to the edge, a pattern to match that of grape. Whatever card the sorceress vampire had currently held in her right hand dropped from her fingers and fell to the floor at the sight of it.

" Ah yes, assistanc…" her back broke the contact it had with the headboard as she moved forward, turning her upper body slightly so that her raised right leg moved over the edge of the bed and touched the bare ground one cm next to the discarded card. The male vampire's movements became incredibly slow, as did her own, from the mere sight and presence of said little box. It was as though time itself opposed its existence. And the closer he got, the more intense Elena's breathing became.

"You cannot have that." She whispered in disbelieve standing on both her feet. Alucard stopped half a foot in front of her and presented the offending box.

"I present merely what you have given."

"This is your reason then?" she questions with an ironic upward curl of her lips. "The reason you came into **my** bed? You dare…" she raised her voice as she took hold of the ebony box and threw it out of the elder vampire's hand so that it crashed against the wall to her right. Her irises bled with justified anger whist their color burned like wildfire.

"I come on behalf of some_thing_ I need!" he reproached.

Someone….on behalf of someone…He had been so close to saying it and yet uttering that word somehow seemed so utterly wrong: at that time and in that place…in his current state. The long strands of raven hair hid his eyes well and with them the flicker of hurt which had dared to rise to the surface the moment he spared a solitary glance back at the partially nude vampire just before he made the _mistake_ of throwing the thin rectangular piece of cardboard to her.

"_Something_ you **need**?" she repeated as her anger began to grow. She then chuckled shaking her head twice while readjusting the cord of her silk robe. Her tone somewhat calmed. "Yet you not only come here but to **my** bed as well. How nice for that some_one_, real nice..."

"I'll do what needs be done." when he turned to look at her his face no longer held emotions what so ever. "So should you."

"And should I refuse what then? I named my price but that doesn't make the harlot you take me for! You appear bearing nothing but the gift of offence! We parted on terms you would so easily dismiss for _something_ that is **someone** you don't even care about and a bond that means absolutely nothing to you!."

"You know nothing!" He hissed baring his fangs at the sudden accusation. "Your only concern should be the debt **you** **owe** **me**. I offered you life when only death hanged above your head and now I need it back."

"Then you should have demanded such terms form the beginning! I saw the look in your eyes!"

"You dare refuse?"

"If I did I know enough not take such threats personally."

"You'll learn!"

The auburn vampire never saw him move let alone grab her right wrist and nearly crush it under his fingers while he pressed her back relentlessly hard into the part of the wall above the wooden headboard. He hovered over her in pure, predatory fashion whilst his magma dyed irises swelled and burned with an unnatural glow. There was no trace of patience left within them; a sentiment further enforced by the rumble and vibrations of his chest. She stood facing a monster.

Alucard held her by the front of her throat strangling her windpipe and creating indentations and cracks in the structure of the wall where the latter touched her body. He was in her face, irises alive like a raging fire inferno ripping her skin apart in a manner far worse than his grip did. The darkness he emanated spilled out from the tips of his raven hair surrounding them completely, so dark the ivory white of his flawless skin shone like a lighthouse's beacon caught in a deadly storm. Nothing but his eyes and the gleam of his monstrous fangs shone brighter.

"The same way you'll understand **I am not** the vampire you once met!" His whispered words through a hoarse voice accompanied the added pressure on her throat. There would be a clear bruise for each one of his fingers and the female would **not** doubt his threats in the future.

Alucard gazed into her seemingly brave face as if waiting. Then, with no warning, released his hold and backed up two steps. Elena's body fell on its knees then sideways over the two large pillows propped up against the wooden structure she hit her back against during her sudden descent. "I make no more _requests_." He set that word free in a poisons fashion as though despising its very existence.

"You do not command me!" Elena retaliated baring her own fangs and blazing eyes. She made a gesture to move but reconsidered it in the last possible moment. She sat up bending her knees and pushing her upper body up with her hands so that her back remained parallel to the headboard and her curled autumn colored locks cascaded down the front of her shoulders. She released a strained sigh before touching the front of her throat with her left hand voicing her thoughts out loud.

"After all this time you return merely for the sake of another. Why stoop so low?"

She didn't get the response she hopped for; she got none at all. Alucard just stood there, opposite of her, and watched until the silence between them grew to be unbearable and weighed more than any eternity ever could. Inadvertently, with nothing but his silence, he had answered her.

"It is true then. The eyes of the beast **have** been tamed." she whispered sarcastically attempting to lower her gaze away from him, but failing to do so. She had to look into his eyes.

"Did you even _see_ me at all? Or was it **her** you saw and pleased the entire time?"

"I have, yes, but not as you saw me." He crouched to her level but quickly decided against it and sat on the bed instead. He kept his right leg up and bent in front of his chest and moved the left behind it. His right elbow went covered the same knee.

"Ai juat pe existența acelei cărți indeplinirea unei cerinte oricare ar fi ea. Pe lângă asta, viața **ta** oricum imi aparține."(6)

"Pentru o faptă de mult săvârșită. Ea nu mai este de datoria mea."(7)

"Chiar to ai prezis un astfel de drum, o șanșă la viață intr-o situație fără scăpare. Nu multe se pot întâmpla in viața celor ca noi, insă cele care da au mare semnificație. Ştii asta."(8)

"Nu asta mă deranjează ci faptele tale. Puteai să-mi fi spus de la inceput adevărul."(9)

Elena reached out with her right hand and touched his face. The soft pads of her fingers caress the thin, yet full lines of his lips then broke away pulling a solitary raven lock with them. It slid uninhibited out if her grasp. Afterwards she summoned the discarded box herself. The crimson vines glowed under her touch then disappeared completely as the lid changed into black mist and revealed the carefully guarded card hidden underneath. This one, like her sisters' still spread over the surface of the bed from the vampire loosing control over them, had dark green markings over the black background of its back.

Her voice sounded of pure, genuine amazement when she asked the decisive question after pulling the fable card out of the box. The representation of water in Temperance became blood while the angel's white robe turned black and ripped and his wings featherless, demonic and more like a dragon's than a birds.

"How did one do it?"

"Te rog ajută-mă."(10)Alucard pleaded in a heart retching tone matching the sudden change in his eyes only confirmed it.

Elena stayed quiet and instead of verbally answering him, recalled her cards and stacked them in a neat pile between them. The bright, illuminating rays of the sun came to life on the blank and black face of the first card she drew and presented. The Sun revealed himself upon it. The next two showed a woman wearing a white gown decorated with pomegranates, a crown of stars over her head and a rod in one hand and a man hanged upside down by his right foot with his arms behind his back and his left leg bent so that together with the right they formed the sign of the cross: the Empress and the Hanged Man. The vampire laid all three on the blanket next to the stack.

"The fruit of all labor requires attendance, sacrifice. But to do so…the burden will be hard to be bear, for both of you."

She placed Temperance above them.

"Tell me what you have done; Temperance should not look like this. Nor should it ever top death in reference to power. It is a path not a means." The representation of death followed: a man in black armor riding a pale white horse on a field of desolation and carrying a black flag featuring a white rose. "Unless you tell me the truth I will not do or show you anything else."

"Very well."

Meanwhile, back at the ancient castle, the sole movement betraying the presence of life in centuries was that taking place on a large double bed with a beautiful dark brown to reddish comforter covering the sheets. It was limited to one of the cream colored pillows partially propped against the headboard of the bed and consisted of rapid up and down motion of a tiny fur covered chest and the light, irregular twitch that accompanied it from time to time. During the approximately one hour after the vampire's departures Seras had reverted to her familiar form, the last link of sanity and tie to the former existence she held. And yet, in a strange and unexplained twist of fate that form failed to survive for longer than a few minutes at a time. The long and beautifully elegant shape of the fox's body gradually decreased in size and color. The unique shade of her fur, a pale blond, changed becoming ivory white just as the tips of her ears had always been from the very beginning. The tiny body, curled in a ball, took up the space in the middle of said pillow making a small dent into it.

Knelt on the floor on the right side of the bed was the hooded figure whose right index gently traced the shape of her head stroking one ear at a time before moving onto the next. He did not face her as his head was turned towards one of the uncovered windows in the room; the night sky was getting brighter and brighter as the new day slowly approached.

"I'm sorry for waking you." he spoke in a gentle manner while removing his hand from her head and bringing it up to his mouth where he bit the pad of his thumb drawing small amount of blood. Afterwards he moved it back smearing a little of the crimson liquid over her pristine fur. The substance was absorbed without delay and in a matter of moments the white kitten opened her large, round, bright blue eyes peering at his form. Contact made, they closed and her tiny form began to shift; Seras changed to her human form. Her hair stayed long and golden but her clothes changed to a light blue nightgown with thin straps that reached her knees. She was still on her belly with her arms underneath both her head and pillow and lower body turned towards the right so that her left leg was bent at the knee and under the right that was fully extended. Her half lidded eyes, still blue, shifted color until they turned crimson red as she blinked once, twice and finally a third time. She raised her head a few cm above the pillow.

"They will be here soon. I cannot stay much longer." The boy spoke while standing up and running his hand through her hair. "Perhaps we'll see each other soon."

He offered a small smile bowing his head slightly then made to turn.

"Wait." He heard he golden haired draculina speak just seconds before a hand took hold of the back of his cape and a slender arm wrapped itself around the front of his throat pulling him backwards. He heard the mattress shift under her weight as her head came up behind his left shoulder and her chest pressed against his shoulder blades. There a tremor in her embrace, hardly noticeable, as though moving had been an intense effort on her behalf.

Seras then brought her right arm from around his front up to his face, almost on the verge of touch his lips, when he dematerialized.

_I'm sorry…_

His voice was left behind in a sincere apology. As it faded, a loud bang as though doors had opened, resonated in the lower level of the castle. The draculina heard it, but could do nothing as the sudden disappearance of the boy left a gap between herself and the floor below that, added to her precarious position over edge the of bed, ended in her loosing her balance and almost falling out of the large bed.

Fortunately, she only just dropped a cm or two from her current position when a far larger body than hers pressed up against her front pushing her back and stopping her fall.

Alucard's long red leather coat touched the floor gathering in a small pile as he sat on the bed beside his mate, his right leg under him and the left dangling over the edge of the bed so that the sole of his boot maintained sole contact with the floor. He held a sideways position to the headboard which allowed his legs to be spread apart as to accommodate Seras's presence between his thighs. Both his arm wrapped themselves around her waist and back pulling her against his chest in a comfortable position; her head fit perfectly in the space between his right shoulder and neck as he moved his gloveless hands over her heated skin in slow, shooting strokes.

"I am here little one."

The girl wastes little time in molding her body against his. Her arms move under his and grip the fabric of his red coat as strongly as they can while her head, safely buried between his jaw and right shoulder, began to nuzzle his flesh affectionately. She made no sound whatsoever as the vampire rests the right side of his head against her temple and slightly turns it so that, when his eyes reopened, they could easily gaze upon the silhouette of their guest. Elena stood not five feet away wearing a beautiful orange gown with a 'v' shaped cleavage, the shade of elder leaves in the fall, accentuated by a long cream shall over both her shoulders and a choker with a handmade Cameo in the middle. Her auburn locks were neatly up in a roman style bun and decorated with pearls to match those in her ears and around her the left wrist. A touch of makeup brought her natural pale beauty while the red of lips made them look fuller than they already were, her left hand lay motionless by her side and her right grasped a part of the shall over her right breast.

Shifting in his embrace as his eyes are busy beholding a goddess like creature, Seras bit down on his throat with very little force. She didn't break the outermost layer of his skin let alone the vessels underneath.

"Seras…" he seeks her attention by placing his right hand over the back of her head stroking her silky locks and moving his throat from her teeth.

"Let her feed. It will make things easier."

Elena tells him with a gentle smile gracing her lips.

[Wastefulness doesn't become you and it's obvious she needs you badly. Death should be a kindness you fool, don't take that from her should her path take her there.]

/**She will not die**!/

The vampire responds in kind, his tone incredibly confident and undeterred.

"Then let it be over and done with." She says just as coldly and turns from them in a gesture meant to offer one final moment of solace. Still, she looks back over her shoulder one final time so that their image returns to the corner of her left eye. "I don't mind waiting longer but if you wish this done it must happen before the sun touches her. Every second counts, I am sorry." A hint of regret eventually enters lining her words at the sadness of the scene before her old eyes.

There is no warning to the immediate smell of fresh blood suddenly filling the room. Seras whimpers while moving away for Alucard's throat as crimson spills from her mouth and drips over the skin of her thighs. The scent it carried was completely of and nothing like the normal, mouthwatering and delicious fragrance it usually held. Her teeth clenched behind her barely parted lips as her hands lowered from his shoulder blades and took hold of his sides instead.

Elena's pupils dilated as the smell reached her despite the abnormal aroma lingering in the air. The scent had remained incredibly strong and potent and her fangs outgrew her bottom lip in seconds responding in kind. Her entire body started to crave it with an unnatural desire, so much in fact, it took a great deal of resolution on her part not to turn around and attack the younger vampire.

She exhales deeply attempting to calm her reaction but fails miserably as the aroma only got stronger the moment she inhaled it in once more. She was forced to gasp loudly, grip her sides and call the ancient vampire's name loud enough for the confused draculina to understand it as well. Her voice held adequate warning given the circumstances.

"Vlad!"

Seras instantly reacted at the sound of her lover's name on another lips. She attempted to raise her head and find the source, but was stopped by Alucard cupping her face as sealing their lips together. He expertly used them to open her mouth and let some his blood flow into her. The exchange of blood between them altered the room's fragrance so much Elena had to shut her eyes completely and place her right hand over her mouth to stop herself from doing something reckless and dangerous. What on earth had he done to that girl? She could not help wonder the nature of the circumstances which led that child in the arms of such a unique, for lack of a better word, vampire. The count's blood had always been _deadly_ in not just scent alone. Good God how she longed for a taste of that blood. The whimper passed her lips with no warning while the craving just go stronger when she heard a similar noise from the young blond woman held in his strong embrace. An embrace she had once been intimately familiar with.

As the vampire breaks the kiss a trickle of crimson liquid as thin as the thread of a spider's web spreads between both their stained lips seconds prior to Seras's head falling backwards and her body completely at the mercy of his hands holding her up. He cleaned the blood from her lips with tender, gentle caresses and a low, passionate rhythm to which she weakly responded kissing him back. She opened her sleepy eyes, glazy orbs once so full of life, stared weakly into the soul robbing blazing twins of the elder and smiled lovingly to the best of her abilities.

"Inchide ochii."(11)Alucard asks of her with such kindness it succeeded in shocking the other resident vampire. The depth of voice released a sensual tone further accentuated by the natural flow of his words spoke in his native tongue. He leaned in once more capturing her lips in tender kiss as his left hand trailed over her smooth skin until it reached her right cheek where it lingered for the entire duration of the kiss. His long fingers moved to brush some of her golden hair behind her ears then back over the length of her cheekbones as he pulled away. Once done he used his right hand to grab hold of the intricate knot of his crimson cravat and undid it with a single gesture.

"Te rog."(12) He adds, no, pleads unlike ever before in the six centuries he'd walked the earth, four of which spent in his homeland. It went beyond that of a man of his station: a leader of thousands, a Count who bows to no one and an undead monster whose sole existence consisted in blood, gore and death. A man who did not plea for the things he desired but took them as he saw fit. And yet there he was, pleading to a mere child hardly in her twenties as a human and barely a creature of the night by vampire standards. It all happened in the same way that _card_ was never meant to be drawn or seen by living eyes when referred to the most feared man, vampire, of them all.

In a strange twist of fate that simple sentence ended up confirming the auburn vampire's declaration. She had been right, so right, regarding his eyes. The hellish fire spawned inside the monster's soul had indeed found purpose, new accommodation and new meaning. It burned for a different master.

"Vreau acasă." (13)Seras whispered in response.

"Ești."(14)

The draculina shuts her eyelids obedient to his whishes as he offers a final chaste kiss on her forehead. Her own lips parted allowing her to plant an open mouth kiss just over his Adam's apple causing it to bob down in response. Seeing her comply Alucard placed his cravat over her eyes, the soft fabric caressing her skin gently and filling her nose with his reassuring scent, and tied it behind her head.

"Vlad." Elena called his name bringing his attention back to the task at hand. She stood at the foot of the bed and faced them while holding her right arm up and bent at the elbow in front of her. She did not need to tell him again.

"Goodbye little one."

Alucard whispered right before Elena spread the fingers of her right hand making two different shaped and colored seals to appear on either side of her body and a third one, the smallest, in front of her. The first to leave her side were the two larger ones. They shifted into small yellow balls of light which then flew across the room and latched themselves onto Seras's wrists. They took the form of white metal shackles.

"You take great risk Vlad." She warned. "The shackles will irreversibly burn her skin should she attempt to leave the grounds of this castle. The pain will be great."

"See it done. That is your only task."

"As you wish." She sighed dispatching the last seal as well; it latched itself in the middle of the young vampire's chest and brought an immediate end to the unexplained flow of blood from her body. The very last crimson trickle to escape the right corner of her mouth was licked by the vampire away before he gently lowered her onto the surface of the bed and covered her flesh with the soft, light grey blanket hidden underneath the reddish brown comforter.

"She'll need a coffin and the soil of her birth for protection. But keep well in mind," she took a breath before speaking further. "You have forcefully embedded her life-force within these walls through not only what you did to her, but what you had me do as well. She'll outgrow this place sooner than you think. Do not, and I mean it, do not push aside that part of her existence as a vampire. Whatever coffin you may have already chosen for her cannot be without the original soil she first bled on."

"It has been arranged." The tone of his voice became annoyed at her persistent insinuation that he didn't know what he was doing.

"I am not saying this for your benefit!" Elena raised her voice in cause of the unconscious woman resting in the bed. She moved around the foot of the bed placing her left hand on the wooden board as she did so. "When I say she does not leave I mean it to the utmost extent. And when I say to keep her origins intact it **will** **be done** as such. You cannot be so ignorant as to willingly want to cause this sort of damage to a child such as her? Do not take the bond you share for granted when it has already been stretched to the limit. It won't survive such recklessness and selfish wants."

"I am not being selfish."

"You are by not letting me finish." She was taking risks with the way she was speaking especially when his gazed upon her held such _unnatural_ promises. Yet the advantage of a prior relationship and a good number of years together, gave her the security and neutrality she required to see her words to an end. "You leave; she stays that is the deal. Your guardianship will pass to whomever you have chosen to watch over her until she gets better. The mark on her chest will offer her protection as long as remains within the boundaries of this sanctuary. Death will follow its removal regardless of how well she might recover. I cannot see any way surviving it, I'm sorry. The only chance she has is one she makes _by herself_ in either death or life. Should you ever ask her life for yours and she accepts…"

"I will not."

"Should you, for the sake of argument," she continued regardless. "No power on earth will save her."

"You think me a fool?" he shouted standing from the bed and walking up to her. "I am risking my freedom to save her. It should tell you something."

"You don't feel love Vlad." She said it as a jest. "You can't tell me such thoughts see change in the span of a _few_ years and a pretty face with golden hair."

Alucard leaned in close allowing his face to hover cm above hers. His tone became sarcastic. "You've already seen it, so why not tell me? Or have your cards finally betrayed you?"

Elena chuckled. "I think not."

"The do not presume things beyond reasonable comprehension." he paused finding his words. "It's hard…turning from something so pure. Why else would your very first card about her be that of the Sun? The most revered of them all."

"You've never desired the Sun Vlad. You have always been a Tower and the Fool seeking it more than anything else."

"Yet I have now, do I not? We may do as we must, but we also take what we get. Her life was once on offer and I merely took it. Since then I've had just one regret from doing so, yet that too has been a path I have successfully steered the both of us from."

"Then this is yours as well, _truly_ yours?" she summoned the card in question but was no longer surprised to see it between her fingers: Temperance. It still held its unique appearance. Elena whispered sharing one last piece of wisdom with the elder vampire. "Many things can yet go wrong. I have yet to fully understand the circumstance of her _future_ acceptance. She **will** give her life to save you, that much I have seen and you **will** be the one to ask such a thing of her. And it is that which you're not telling that holds the veil of darkness over my eyes."

"A burden you must live with." He responded coldly and without hint of emotion.

"Why do you do this?" she asks stopping him from leaving her side as attempts to do so. "Display such raw emotion then turn from it as though it were worthless? Love isn't shameful. Loving someone and showing it more so."

The raven haired vampire chuckled and grinned widely showing off his teeth. His expression became amused, almost playful as his lips quite tenderly brushed against hers in a very light kiss.

"Ah, but by your own admission, I do not feel love, do I? Something as fleeting as that holds little merit."

He then pulled away and walked passed her without another word.

"Why do you desire **salvation** for her so dearly? You saved me for far less and now your own actions contradict everything you're vainly attempting to tell me. You're trying to convince me to pay heed to my ears and not my eyes when in fact I consider both worthless at this point."

"Then there is nothing further to discus. I have asked something and you have delivered. All I still require from you is to return here when I leave tomorrow night, that is all. Anything else other than that is irrelevant. It is the only path I can walk upon and I will do so without regret."

"And without forgiveness."

"We rise in the fall of others. Seras will rise in mine."

Elena sighed taking a moment to find the _right_ words and not those she would have _wanted_ to say. She shuts her eyes for but a second or two after and reopens them displaying a most serious gaze.

"Then may the cards grant you the wisdom they have not shown me. You aspire to dangerous things. However, it is not my place judge her decisions regarding you. We are agreed."

Snapping her fingers the seal in the middle of Seras's chest faded and was absorbed into her flesh.

.

.

.

"You are sure there's nothing _more_ wrong with her?"

Integra could hear both Walter and the doctor's voices through the partially opened door of the room she rested in pretending to be asleep. It had not taken the teen long to fetch the doctor despite their rather intense quarrel and she had had little choice afterwards. Both of them had escorted her to the small clinic located in the east side of the ground floor and once she'd been examined and tended too, Walter left without a word whatsoever. That was, however, until she heard him speak to the doctor. Regardless of what she'd said to him and the manner in which she'd done in, his tone still retained concern for her well being; and of course, for that of _their_ child.

"The nurse will monitor her condition throughout the night, but she's stable and the bleeding stopped well before you came to fetch me. She should be alright providing she stays in bed and undergoes no stressful situations."

"She told me she bled before."

"That's true. But as she's told her condition there not much that can be done to prevent recurring episodes. She needs rest and not strenuous activities. Never the less, we stabilized her there is no immediate concern to either her or the little girl."

As he spoke the doctor failed to notice the slight twitch in Walter's left eyes at the mention of 'the little girl'. He continued without giving it a second thought especially when the child's own father made no further inquiry after he'd said it; he assumed the young man had already known.

"Thank you." Walter replied gratefully. "It's best we let her rest then."

"There is no need to worry. I'll be here all night should anything happen."

The former angel nodded before taking his leave. The doctor went to check on his patient one final time then retired to his office.

Integra waited for well over a half hour afterwards prior to deciding to see the deed through. She got out of bed taking the journal, hidden under her pillow, with her, and pushed the curtains aside to let some of the outside light enter. She opened her ancestor's diary, took the small razor concealed between its pages and used it cut along the length of her index finger. Her blood dripped staining the same page marred with the imprisoning seal and, once her first task was completed, she moved her finger away from the booklet and drew a circle around herself whilst kneeling down. Her lips began to form silent words which in turn made the ancient drawing glow and rise from the page before spreading around her so that she was situated in the very middle of the pentagram; that itself within a double circle. The more she continued to form words, the more new symbols began appeared one after another on the outer rim of the first circle.

Unfortunately, about three quarters in completing the ritual, she stopped abruptly as sharp pain gripped her stomach. Her left hand went to it feeling the baby's kicking increase in the same rhythm of the pain she felt.

_Do you truly desire death Integra Hellsing? _

Alucard's words came haunting back as another rune appeared by itself without her having uttered the necessary words. The sensation got so bad Integra had to let out a pained gasp, drop the journal and use her hand to steady herself instead of further holding it. She lowered herself in a seated position as best as she could, but the sensation was something she'd never encountered before in her life. It felt as though something was tearing her in two.

_The moment you bind me the blood I gave will be rejected…rejected to the point of killing you…_

She barely had a moment to look up and see the last of the symbols appear completing the circle before the entire thing disappeared in a burst of red light and she screamed alerting everyone in the infirmary.

Wetness pooled at her feet and the iron infused scent of blood reached her nose.

_It will die…it will die…._

It was so hard to keep her eyes open and focused any longer; the floor felt so utterly cold against her cheek and she could not even remember going down. Her sole comfort was that, just as she was on the verge of loosing consciousness, a warm hand made it all disappear: her head was cradled in the warm and protective embrace of a dark shirt. Something made out of metal pressed into her side as another hand raised her in the process. She did not see the arms holding her, but felt the touch of distinctive metal rings sown into the black fabric of Walter's fingerless gloves.

He screamed, most likely calling for the doctor, but the knight passed out never hearing it.

.

.

_To be continued..._

_Translations:_

1. Do you recall a lesson you once learned with me?

2. Lesson?

3. It's possible that some of the things you'll see will cause you harm. It's important you remember how to conquer that which you fear, what hurts. Your own fear.

4. And if I can't?

5. Then I'll show you how once more.

6. You swore on the existence of this card the fulfillment of one wish regardless of what it may be. And besides that, **your** life already belongs to me.

_7._ For a deed long since fulfilled. That is no longer a requirement.

_8._ You yourself where the one to predict such a path, a chance at life in a impossible situation. Not a lot can happen in the life of those such as us, yet those that do have unmistakable value. You know this.

9. That is not what bothers me, but your actions. You could have just told me the truth from the beginning.

10. Please help me.

11. Close your eyes.

12. Please._  
><em>

13. I want to go home.

14. You are home._  
><em>

Until next time, shadow out.

p.s. after all this time I would really appreciate your review, as small as it may be.


	8. Chapter 8

New chapter's up, it took a while I know but I had exams to take care of. There'll be a lot more AxS interaction in this one, though a bit different then what you might expect. I'll be changing and exploiting their bond to the best of my abilities. Also, like the previous chapter, the part I have written in Romanian will be numbered and translated at the end. a note to that, i was a bit late in doing this for chapter 5 as I originally forgot when posting, but I eventually made sure to translate the phrases. Therefore, those of you who might have been confused by it or did not understand can check them out now.

Also, thanks to all have reviwed and stayed on so far.

P.S: 1. Alright, since i got a few messages telling me the story's a bit confusing I'll explain a few things. There will be multiple plots, SxA;WxI; Nicolae, Elena and her fledgling; Iscariot will pop in at one moment; the Queen and McCoy; Alucard's imprisonment, but i can't put all the plots in one single chapter; the last two chapters were exceedingly long as it is. There's a lot to write and I usually write in a notebook first then the computer. I've changed more than half the story already as the original plot didn't seem that good any longer so now i'm stuck with bits and pieces of the old one that can still be used and a whole new line of documents writen especially for the curent plot. It's just a matter of conecting the documents together, but even then there's still a lot to do. So I appologies that things may seem somewhat confusing as of now, but it will all make sense in the long run.

So far everything happens in the span of a few day leading up to Alucard's binding, but keep in mind the fact that a lot chan happen in just a few days. and when you have multiple occurrences all taking place around the same time you have to sort them out a present them so that they at least make some sort of sense.

2. Look it's never explained in the manga how Alucard survies and returns after 30 years so, for Seras, i'm taking a personal path as to how it could have been. Her bond with Alucard is all she has left so i'm, starting it from scratch. Chapter 2 starts it all, and there will be more in the following chapters but i can't tell you more or it will ruin the surprise. I just wanted to offer a new king of perspective to the bond between the vampire and his bride and you won't be dissapointed i promise.

3. Also, part about the sword piercing Seras's heart. That actually happens 5 years in the past( a refrence to it, though small, is in angels fall chapter 7, when alucard and seras discus the part about 'jolting back' after the fight with Quincy is done). so without giving much away, i'm going on the idea that Angels never happened the way I presented it. Seras had her heart pierced, that menas death, and yet she didn't die. That leaves the question as to 'why?' but i can't give you the answer just yet. You'll see more to this in either the next chapter or the one after 9( i'm not yet sure) but it will most likely be the next.

Thanks.

**Chapter 6**

It was so hard to keep her eyes open and focused any longer; the floor felt so utterly comfortable against her cheek despite the ice cold sensation it generated. She could not even remember going down let alone considering getting up. Her sole comfort was that, just as she was on the verge of loosing consciousness, a warm hand made it all disappear: her head was cradled in the warm and protective embrace of a dark shirt. Something made out of metal pressed into her side as another hand raised her in the process. She did not see the arms holding her, but felt the touch of distinctive metal rings sown into the black fabric of Walter's fingerless gloves.

He screamed, most likely calling for the doctor, but the knight passed out never hearing it.

"Someone help me!" the raven haired teen shouted for the fourth time now and still no one had come through the closed door of the room. His arms continued to cradle the unconscious young woman in his embrace as he sat on the cold floor with her partially in his lap next to the bed. her skin felt cold to the touch and getting colder despite the fabric of her pajama shirt covering it; her breathing was highly erratic and he had no clue whatsoever as to whether she still bled or not.

Meanwhile outside the closed clinic door, the sole motive preventing the staff from either hearing the 19 year old teen's cries or entering was the ancient vampire clothe in a Victorian style black suit and white shirt with knee high black leather boots, a red cravat around his throat and a long rich crimson dyed coat. Hs raven locks were kept short and his right arm was extended towards the three members of the staff: the doctor and the two nurses. His voice was rich and deep and had a mesmerizing tone that held them easily confined within the boundaries of his spell. The bloody crimson of his irises flashed as the words he spoke rolled like fine layers of honey off his tongue.

"Everything is fine."

"Everyt…thing is f….fine…"

All three continuously whispered once, twice, every time successfully following his lead. It took him less than a minute to effectively manipulate them into obeying his whishes and just a tad more to get them to turn and leave.

"You will go and sleep. Noting is wrong, nothing has happened."  
>It was so very easy. Their footsteps echoed in their wake in the bare corridor as the distance between them and the room in question grew with each passing second until they disappeared round the corner.<br>Alucard didn't bother opening the door, he merely stepped through it until he reached the other side and came face to face with the sight of his former master passed out and covered in blood in the angel's embrace. He could see the terror dominating the teen's gaze.

"Alucard!"

The undead master remained quite ignoring the shouting pleas that scourged his ears as he walked up to the two and raised his right hand. The back of his glove burned bright red and with it the mass of spilled liquid rose a few cm off the ground before it burst into the pattern once marring said floor. There it laid for about a minute, brightly glowing as a right of pass for the initiated ritual, and then it changed into a single tendril that twirled and swirled as it moved upward the rest of the way until it surrounded his hand and was entirely absorbed. The pristine white fabric of the glove got stained in it's color and retained a short while, but only so long as the circle shaped runes burned so bright; the moment they stopped white took over once again. There wasn't a single trace of crimson left on either the floor or Integra's clothing. She coughed, eyelids struggling a few time then opening to the wondrous sight of his beautifully colored dark violet irises filled to the brink with the concern that had taken over terror.

"Wa…l..ter…" her voice struggled under the weight of her parched throat. His grip subsequently tightened around her frame and his eyes would have shed the tears threatening to fall had it not been for the vampire's unforgiving tone shattering the moment.

"You stupid human." the tone was filled with resentment towards her misplaced actions and apparent lack of judgment, yet accepting at the same time. Both of them knew their choices, regardless of bad or good, could only go so far. "What can save you now?"

His one arm easily removed her from the angel's embrace by pulling her to her feet by her right upper arm as the latter in turn was still to stunned to either move or speak: a moment ago she lay dying in his arms and now she was wide wake, alert, breathing and speaking just like any other day.

"What are you…" Walter started to say.

"Get out Walter.

Integra brushed him off before he even had a glimpse of a chance to say anything else. There was coldness in her stance, speech and eyes; she didn't bother to look at him at all more so acknowledge the fact she _might_ have hurt him deeply. Nothing she was doing made any sense whatsoever, nothing at all. Her gaze was, and remained to be, intently and solely focused on the tall vampire whose orbs, framed by thick lashes and short charcoal locks, shone brighter than the life giving color of blood itself despite the indifferent and impassive look he was giving her. Despite all this the fist time she voiced such thoughts was neutral in comparison to the later version which had a lot more frustration and eagerness to it. "Get out already!" and just like that she began to shout stopping to care altogether.

As for the former angel of death, he failed to comprehend and just stared at her as though she'd grown a second head. How could she talk the way she did when barely moments go he had been the one holding her dying and fragile existence in his arms in a desperate and hopeless attempt of saving her?

A wave of pain highly resembling that of a contraction jolted through Integra's body soon after and just seconds before Walter's voice joined the solo chorus. She tensed and her icy blue eyes twitched behind the frame of the simple silver colored frame of her glasses along with two of her fingers as sole response to it. The angel missed them but the vampire did not. His superiorly experienced gaze already knew the pattern that sort of throbbing would take: her shoulders would soon tense and shake, her posture would waver ever so slightly then keel over entirely as her legs became the subsequent stop. Pain came easy to see, after all his years of experience, it was as natural as not breathing. All that remained was the question of how long it would take the young woman to plea? Eventually, they would and now she too was just a doorstep away from following in such trampled footsteps.

"Why?" he asks point and simple, yet with forced words and of low quality as he holds back to the best of his abilities.

Integra wasn't listening. Her eyes beheld the ancient creature blocking everything around her as the two started their own secret conversation.

[Get him out Alucard.]

The vampire's lips involuntary curled upward in a hint of a grin as pride gave way to pain and pain to a _plea_. Time, it was all a matter of time; the curse on everyone and everything. /No./

[Do it!] She all but hissed inside his mind through the freshly forming bond of master and servant. Her left hand began to twitch more and more until she finally balled her fist squeezing her fingers tight.

"No." Alucard says determined.

"Integra!" Walter demands at the same moment.

"Get him out!" and the knight snaps shouting it to the world. "Get him the hell out of my face I don't ever…" she was forced to pause as words came so hard to say out loud from the newly wave of intense discomfort. Her breath hitched for a second as she inhales stridently keeping the groan at bay. Her irises were now the one to blaze and burn. ".out! That's a fucking order, now!"

Each of the three words is accompanied by pain and harsh intakes as she releases them from her mouth. Her body loyally follows Alucard's presented path.

The latter make no move, no helping gesture towards her, only the teen. Regrettably for him though, the person his attention was so willingly and in good faith given wanted nothing from him. "Do it!"

The seals returned over the pristine white surface of Alucard's. Both were incomplete with the twin circles present as well as the middle pentagram but lacking the accompanying words around the outer rim and the symbols within the inner one. The intense heat burned his flesh straight through the cotton fabric.

"You presume much." He hissed, chest vibrating with the effort of the underlining growl hidden beneath failed attempt at being civil.

"And you **will** deliver **my** **servant**." Her reply matched his in everyway as it was purposely prolonged. Her strength in her fist became so great her nails scratched at her skin shedding crimson droplets. "Do your duty as I do mine."

Just like that pride reclaimed its throne with far greater power.

Alucard stared at the defiant young woman before him with no words to pass his tongue.

"What are you doing?"

It was only after the shorthaired teen grabbed hold of the inner side of Integra's upper arm thus breaking the eye contact they shared that the former count complied with his _master's_ whishes and moved his right arm from its stale position next to his side. With it he sketched a semicircle that resulted in a summons and a swirling black portal that engulfed the boy with little disregard for either form of protest, be it verbal or physical, he might have had. Inky tendrils removed him by force from the knight's side: one around his waist, arm and mouth. The fingers on Walter's right hand left bruises marking her skin with their prints. His dark violet irises beheld her cold ones one final time seconds before the last part of his body, the left half of his face, was too swallowed up by the darkness. His shouts were drown by the makeshift gag covering his mouth; after that silence, dead silence, followed.

"I will outlive my mistakes but yours will haunt you forever." Alucard the said without expecting any sort of reply in return. And he indeed received none as Integra struggled over to the edge of the bed and sat with her head dropping and many platinum strands covering the front of her shoulders, bare feet touching the small carpet laid out next to it, her left hand on the surface of the mat and the right over her thigh; her eyelids clenched shut and jaws tense.

The vampire moved without a sound and knelt before his young master in a way much like the very first night they met. He did not hesitate to place his right hand over the yet unborn child resting safely, though highly active, inside her womb. It was then that her hand too enclosed his squeezing it. His question was a reasonable one.

"Why does my imprisonment outweigh the life of your unborn child? You realize no other Hellsing has ever committed himself to such atrocities." His tone held lack of understanding towards his former master's decision. The latter in turn spoke before he could ad further questions to the cause.

"Because I do not want her to **die**." Integra's voice was strained with the strain of holding back her tears and the shaking over her shoulders. At least for the moment the unnatural bursts of pain seemed to only linger loosing some of their intensity.

"You are killing her yourself."

"I'm trying to do what's best." She reproached such accusations as soon as they had left the vampire's lips and she raised her head in defiance. "I m not so stupid as to not know what is really going on and has been going on for months now." She had to laugh, chuckle, for a moment as the thought flashed through her mind. But, despite the curl of her lips, her eyes strongly held a maddening sort of madness and logic all put together in a way only she could understand it. "This isn't an inspection it's a termination. And you're the only thing that's always offered protection. If I die binding you, you'll be forced to watch over her and…and protect her. "

"You mistake intent with order. I was ordered to perform, not the other way around."

"I have no obligation towards your spawn either with or without your precious order. I can watch it die and savor the feeling of having the last of your retched line wither away before my eyes in a glorious sight worthy of any vengeance I could have ever though of myself." He spoke defiant and proud while pulling his hand from under hers and standing up.

"I'm not demanding you do it but," she paused enough to let her gaze wander from his face towards her stomach and have it linger there a few seconds before returning it to his narrowed crimson eyes. "I know you won't disappoint."

It was the vampire's turn to laugh amused at the boldness of her words spoken with confidence baring the notion she knew forehand what she would do or not; as it she _actually_ knew him.

"And why is that?" he could not help the hoarse tone of his baritone voice from sounding completely dark, degrading and mocking at the same time. "You humans, after all this time, change so little yet so much. You bare a, his, child yet you do not trust. You have never trusted, have you?"

"I don't..." She eventually whispered as though with a dyeing breath.

"But of course you do." Alucard continued to mock her whilst leaning it so that the upper half of his body dangerously hovered over her like a sword waiting to swing that one final blow, drown in blood and end a life. "To judge is so easy, is it not? What I do, what other do, people, vampires, and all **creatures**!" he raised his tone making it so much deeper than it already was. The lava in his irises went ablaze. "But to judge oneself, **human**, is so much different. You criticize me when you fare no better. Tell me," he chuckled moving his large right hand over the surface of the front of her throat with little warning and grabbing hold tight. Her Adam's apple responded to the sudden touch bobbing once with the sharp intake of breath. "Was his seed all that makes that child or are you planning on disposing of the rest as well? How long do you thing your _fateful_ little angel will stay by your side when all that springs from that experienced mouth are lies?"

His face was leaning in almost to the point of touching hers as he spoke only for it to be just as suddenly removed from her presence. At the same time he released her throat though the gesture used for it appeared to be filled with contempt; like throwing way something you never wished to ever gaze upon again. It was a gesture that fully matched the look in his crimson orbs and expression over handsome features.

Afterward, Alucard merely turned his back to her and moved to wander around the wooden frame of the bed. His boots made the slightest of sound as he took slow and deliberate steps.

"And you _would_ know, **vampire**?" Integra offers her own sarcastic remark. "How _human_ are **you** now? How much a little brat has changed you? How utterly **human** to mock me for doing what you have already done!"

He chuckled, the tone low, deep and highly amused as he spared a single crimson glimpse from his right eye from under the raven curtain of his bangs. "I am not the _human_ who mistrusts."

"You know no…"

"I know everything!" he retorted in anger. "And you," he then paused. "Don't trust at all." He dragged the words out for as long as they would go.

"Alucard…"

"You pitiful excuse of a human, of a Hellsing! You do not trust!"

"What of it?" She took the bait without a second thought. "What the hell is it to you?"

"Nothing." His voice was uncannily calm and somehow utterly satisfied. His forming grin was a truly eerie one. "To _me_, it is nothing. Nothing at all."

His head took back its former position whilst his grin became wider and much more pleased. The small twitch of his brow alerted her to his hidden meaning and so she found herself following his gaze to a tragic result: a still open portal, a bound teen and dark violet eyes filled with utter betrayal. He'd heard and he'd seen _everything_.

"What are yo…"

It was all Integra had time to whisper in disbelieve seconds before Alucard shut the portal down right before her eyes turning it into a swirling mass which then faded from existence.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" there was no rational explanation for his reappearance in her face. Raw emotion underlined it especially when he repeated himself. "Doesn't it?" the expression he wore was of pure madness. Afterwards more mocking and no sympathy followed. Yet even such display had hidden and quite reasonable purpose. "What do you even know?"

The vampire moved back but the knight grabbed hold of his wrist before he had a chance to do so. She called his name in a demanding although desperate and pleading fashion.

"Alucard."

"Rest," It wasn't the sort of reply she had expected as both gentleness and concern seemed to line that word. "Unless you **do** want to be rid of that thing." And just like that they disparaged yet again.

"Alucard!"

"What do you want for me?" he hissed jerking his hand back and thus out of her reach. "What could _you_ possible want _master_?"

Had poison tasted sweeter there was little doubt he would have both taken and preferred it.

"I do as I please in my fucking house vampire. And so will you." The last word would not be his. "That wasn't necessary. Nor was it your god damned concern!"

"Do not test me human." He warned in return. "I could rip that filthy little heart of yours through your skull and no one would care."

"You will do it my servant. And you know perfectly well _why_." She emphasized each one of those words. Despite that, it wasn't what she said that got to the vampire but the abrupt change in her sky blue orbs. However small it had been had him react in furry: he grabbed the front of the woman's throat, pushed her backwards over the surface of the bed and squeezed relentlessly.

"I should break you to pieces!" Alucard snarled viciously as the rage bubbling up inside of his chest threatened to erupt like a volcano ready to burst at any moment. The room was filled with darkness and only the blazing red of his eyes could bare it witness. "I warned you!" he held nothing back as he continued to shout. His hand may no longer be squeezing her throat but the pressure it generated remained just as strong. Every muscle in his body was tense and strung tight beneath the layers of Victorian style clothing he wore. Even without meaning to Integra had made a clear and unmistakable reference to the one consolation he had found in the hellhole of immortal damnation: Seras. "Do not…."

"I've said….nothing." Her voice struggled as did her breathing.

"It was enough that you though it!" Alucard yelled baring his fully extended fangs towards her. They passed his bottom lip, the canines above all, and, along with the unnatural glow of his ruby teeth and swirling back mane, created a truly frightening sight. His anger rose so closely to the surface not just because of what had not been said but also because of what had been done; the guilt, his guilt, born of his own actions against the one…

Remorse weighed heavily on his broad shoulders as it became incredibly hard to see the distinction between the two any longer. He could not understand how, why, it hurt so badly to have done the right thing to save, to protect?

"Alucard!" The knight's words succeeded in reaching him and the glow of his eyes faded returning them to their natural crimson color. He was forcefully snapped back into reality and the darkness all around disappeared. His brows frowned as he shut his eyelids tight and let a rather infuriated snarl pass his throat as he let go, stepped back from his prey and turned around as he did so. Integra struggled to breathe as she regained full control over her battered throat and caught several times.

"Alucard." Her tone was somewhat forced and her voice a tired whisper.

"What?" he shouted so harshly it felt as though the entire room shook from the force behind it. Shadows burst out of his hair along with his frustration and lashed out at the only things around him that lacked the necessary strength to oppose him. They swayed in a massive wave which crashed into the structure of the bed and window shaking them almost to the point of breaking, the table and chairs close to the window knocking the latter down while pushing one side of the table so that it lay crooked against the wall. The thin curtains framing the twin windows rose of the ground as though moved by a furious gust of wind from the outside then glided back slowly as the vampire calmed himself and used his powers to straighten everything back to their former position. His fists relaxed, the fingers unwinding one after another, and his shoulders straightened regaining their regal posture as he turned enough to look at the platinum haired woman from the corner of his left eye. She was back to sitting on the edge of the bed with her right hand still massaging her throat before she eventually let it drop in her lap.

"Just watch over her." Integra pleaded adjusting her position on the bed. It got harder and harder to stay up straight and keep her eyes open and unfortunately for her, it had little to do with his former actions against her. She was once again close to loosing consciousness and so desperately needed to know and hear his answer before it happened.

Alucard stared, not a single syllable passing his lips until the very last swirling tendril retracted into the original mass of long hair which then shorted in the short hairstyle he always presented. Many strands remained to frame his face as his eyelids dropped a deep sigh left his chest. When he spoke it was in a peaceful yet disappointing hoarse and forced tone as if it had been incredibly difficult to even utter such a short sentence.

"I cannot do that." His eyelids dropped as he blinked, took a deep breath and turned around to fully face her. "I am not the one you should be leaning against. You are placing hope in the wrong creature."

His eyes reopened to a different sight as the expecting mother no longer sat on the edge of the bed but laid on its surface with her legs still dangling over the side, her head partially resting on the pillow in the same manner her left hand did over her swollen womb and long platinum hair spread like a halo round her. Her breathing had stopped being so elaborated and her chest moved with slow up and down motion.

The vampire walked up the bed in just under two strands and picked her up carefully by wrapping his right arm around her shoulders and the left under her knees. That done he placed her with care in a more suited position for a woman in her condition and, with the wave of his free right hand, turned on the mashies hooked up to the wall directly adjacent to the left side of the bed. he reached out an took a small plastic mask connected to a long, white tube around 3 cm in diameter and place it over her mouth and nose while securing the thin blue strap attached to it over her head. Each breath she took fogged up the interior side of the mask. His fingers brushed a few strands form her forehead after he'd finished adjusting the little piece of plastic necessary for helping her breath right. Everything was now a matter of time, nothing more.

The very first rays of light that day touched the ivory white skin of his left, ebony hair and crimson coat over the top of his shoulder the very moment he pulled his hand back from her face and finished covering her with the blanket with his other.

Alucard remained stationary in the room for a few minutes more before he left it retreating to the safety and solace provided by the one deep underground within the uninhabited bowels of the old Victorian house.

.

.

.

The haunting howls of countless wolves filled the night air all around the dark, snow covered structure of the ancient castle. Amongst these, one lone silhouette stood out the most as it sat perched up on the highest tower with his large claws buried in the grooves of the tiles, fur as black as the night itself hiding him and head tilted back in a long and throaty howl. All other voices followed his lead, followed Black dog Baskerville. Several other similar silhouettes, though smaller in shape and size, lay scattered around the perimeter of the castle; their vigilant watch approaching it's end as the new day slowly made itself know by the very first rays of orange-gold light which filled the sky in the same fashion ink would dissolve in water: thick swirling tendrils breaking into hundreds of little strands then fading from sight. Once the last tune of their conjoint howl ended the pack retreated, one by one, avoiding the menacing rays.

Inside the fable structure, however, the story went somewhat different. Both the lace of her see-through light blue cloak and train of her matching gown, though a shade darker in color, rustled against the carpet with each step Elena took while descending down the right branch of the main flight of stairs in the grand hall first then the latter. Her every step was closely watched not just by eerie pairs of golden eyes but two sets of blue ones as well. The taller of the two wore a concealing black cloak reaching all the way down to the floor and his right arm wrapped around the smaller form of the blond girl he helped hide beneath the right side of his wide cloak. Her right cheek rested against the middle of his chest and black shirt and her own arms lay draped in lazy fashion around his lean hips.

"Why are we hiding?" Seras asks in a shallow voice so only his ears were able to pick it up.

"Because she can't know you're here, that either of us is here. It has to remain between you and me. You can't speak to her or reveal yourself to anyone you might see other than me."

"She seems nice," Seras replied while watching as the vampire in question prepares to enter the portal she'd conjured. Her hand went to raise the transparent light blue hood of her robe up and over her auburn hair.

"I'll return tomorrow once the sun sets." Elena says to whoever she felt was listening and was made to watch over the sleeping form of the draculina during the upcoming day. Her crimson orbs scan the entire surface of the hall especially the part leading towards the right side archway. The sight itself was blocked by the thick stone railing and the natural curb of the corridor leading from it, but that didn't stop her from looking in the very same direction the two children were hiding; she couldn't see them, but she could feel something different about that particular part of the castle.

"She is nice but we can't." Vlad continued after Elena had spoken her piece. "I'm not allowed to and she can't see you. Just like the nuns at the orphanage couldn't see me. I can't take you back but for that you have do as I say. Trust me." He tried explaining it so that she would finally understand the importance of the matter.

Seras sighed, increased her hold and pressed her cheek a little bit harder into the boy's warm chest. Being away from that place, even if it was conditioned, was worth it, wasn't it? She was safe and she felt safe and at that moment it was that mattered.

Flashback

_The night was dead quite as it continued to cover the sleeping children and adults comfortably and safely resting beneath the roof of the three stories high orphanage. The storm had been raging on for the past few hours with small droplets and a steady wind with irregular flashed of lightning and howls of thunder, yet not so loud as to wake the resting residents. Sadly, all that changed when a terror filled scream pierced the tranquil night and the small figure of a child rose in a seated position in her bed. The room held four beds on each side and each one had a child hidden under its covers; all were instantly awaken the moment the youngest of the eight screamed till her throat became sore form the effort. Six months now, no almost seven, since the girl had been brought to orphanage and rarely a tranquil night ever since. The first few had been easier as the girl didn't talk but would not sleep and now, when she did sleep, she still continued to disturb her colleagues by randomly choosing to scream in the middle of the night. Immediately after her voice reached the ears of those around her hardly anyone paid it any heed as they had heard it time and time again, over and over. Most of them grunted and buried their faces back into the pillows or pulled their blanket up and over their heads. Yet something would prove to be different about that particular night and would most definitely break the monogamy of it all: there wouldn't be just one scream but two._

_The small child, a little girl with light gold hair and piercing blue eyes, shot out of her bead as her dreams had yet again been plagued by nightmares; or rather said one particular heart retching nightmare. Her voice joined the roaring thunder above her head mixing together. Her body moved in seconds kicking the blanket from her feet and getting up at an incredibly fast rate. A flash of lightning came the second her bare feet touched the ground on the right side of the bed and she backed up from it heading towards the middle of the room dressed in her dark green pajama. Her heart pounded inside her chest, beating frantically, and fresh wave of tears streamed down her cheeks despite her refusal to let them fall: she simply hadn't the strength. Her tiny right hand reached out and touched the wooden board at the foot of the bed just as the thunder accompanying the sudden flash of light broke free of its cage and swept like a tidal wave over the cloud filled sky. A fraction of a second later a slender arm slithered around her tiny waist. Her second scream was even more terrifying and, this time, had proper consequences as something or someone had pulled the little girl backwards until she collided with what felt to be a body and seemed to increase the hold they had over her the second she began to struggle._

"_What is going on here?" The unmistakable tone of one of the elder nun's in charge of the children rang out in the darkness of the room as she opened the door, stepped in and flicked on the light switch. The chamber was immediately flooded by a wave of fluorescent light that woke all the remaining children. Her eyes fell of the still struggling figure of the golden haired child trapped in her own sheets and laying on the floor near the foot of her bed while screaming and cursing. The nun, or Sister Beth as she was called, wasted little time in walking up to the girl, grabbing hold of her upper left arm and in doing so pulled her to her feet._

"_Seras!" the girl's movement stopped as soon as her name had been called. "What is the meaning of this? I warned you about causing trouble in the middle of the night!"_

"_Some…one…he grabbed me…." Seras mustered in a hushed voice. "I couldn't…"_

"_Enough!" the sister's tone left no room for argument whatsoever. This was not the first incident of this sort; by far it seemed to be like the hundredth considering the ungodly hours she kept choosing and also no the first time she'd given the same 'old' reply. "Come with me."_

_The nun, dressed in her dark grey robe with long grey hair reaching past her shoulders and held in a loose braid, pulled on the child's arm getting her to move. She escorted her out of the girl's common sleeping room and towards the third floor where a new series of rooms lay in wait. None were occupied though as the number of children housed by the orphanage in question was reduced at the time most having found homes already. Beth chose the second on the left as it was the smallest on the floor with just two beds instead of four. Once inside she shoved Seras in the direction of the closest bed and switched the lamp on the nightstand on. _

"_You are staying here from now on. I have had just about enough of you waking the entire orphanage up with your ridiculous stories. No one is here to get you and no one can get in and touch you. I warned you about it countless time and now you'll have to suffer the consequences."_

"_But he is!" Seras continued to plea her case though her efforts were in vain. "There's blood…I keep seeing bl…"_

"_I don't care!" the harshness in the nun's tone muted her. Three words, nothing more, and yet each one held true and undeniable meaning and confirmation. "I don't care. If nothing I say gets though to you than the same can happen to me as well. You can stay here and scream all you like to whomever you like. You will still be punished tomorrow."_

_Seras was left speechless and could only watch as the old woman turned her back on her like many families had before. No one wanted 'damaged goods', a child who was paranoid, violent without provocation at times and worse with provocation; no parent desire a blood stained girl to play with their children. Those who had wanted her would bring her back and those who might have wanted her turned from her like the plague if they saw her fight and curse with other children in a rather aggressive manner over trivial things such as toys. They did not understand they were her things, her last memories of the life she'd once had, the objects stained in the same blood she had been: they were bonded._

_The door shut behind the nun banging loudly in the empty hall followed by her retreating footsteps over the creaking floorboards until all that was left was silence and one solitary whimper absent tears. She wanted to cry, oh how easy it would be to let it all out, but she couldn't, she wouldn't. Her dad had always told her to be strong and her mom to smile. Crying meant they won. It wasn't enough they didn't believe her suffering to be genuine, just fits of posttraumatic stress, but to go and act the way they did around her made everything so much worse. She was alone, no friends, no parents, no one to talk to and no nothing; not even her things. _

"_Seras…"_

_A new voice, a new rich and deep tone of a clearly developing voice, all but purred her name in the gentles of ways before a matching touch tapped her left shoulder. A hand had whished to mold its palm over it yet her rapid turn had it fall back down. The girl raised both her arms backing up as if ready to defend herself when the pair of twin arms pulled her back into the same chest she'd felt before trapping her limb in between them. She caught a mere glimpse of raven hair before soft, warm lips enclosed her own in what would be a chaste, yet her first, kiss._

_Seras's sky blue eyes, their shade darker at night despite the light of the lamp nearby, went wider than a set of twin saucers the moment contact was made. She gazed into the face of young man, well boy, no older that 13 by the looks of thongs though still a lot older than her, with mesmerizing blue irises like deepest of oceans and a much paler complexion than her own. Ebony black locks framed his face on either side as they reached his shoulders in waves with long bangs covering his half dropped eyelids almost entirely. The tight grip he had on her body broke the as soon as she regained her sense, fought against him and shoved him from her as hard as smaller body would allow. Her right hand moved up and used the back of her sleeve to wipe the remains of the kiss away._

"_No!" the boy immediately tells her once the deed was done. He doesn't shout or demand but there's a certain urgency and regret lining each sound in his voice. His left hand takes her wrist while the other her left shoulder and he makes that one step forward to kisses her a second time. The utter urgency of it all, despite the kiss in itself being nothing more than a mere touching of the lips, turned out to be only thing keeping the blond girl from reacting violently towards the sudden intrusion. It is only now when things slow down that she finally recognizes the set of irises starring at her so intently. Their eyes lock onto each other anew the entire time until the very last moment when the boy pulled back painfully slow as if to prolong the contact between their lips for as long as possible. That done his face remained mm from hers, his warm breath caressing it as he spoke and pleaded in a husky tone slightly resembling that of a much older person. _

"_Please don't. Don't wipe it off." His mouth curls in a beautiful little smile as he speaks. "I'm sorry I'm late."_

_His ocean blue eyes followed the parting of her mouth knowing she was on the verge of saying something when heavy footsteps and creaking floorboards came from the other side of the closed door sister Beth had exited from not so long ago. His head rose and turned in reflex towards the sound of the steps, yet what mostly surprised him was the smaller child shoving him from her side yet again; this time succeeding in pushing him into the frame and edge of the bed before pulling him down by the collar of his black, long-sleeved blouse so that his presence there was masked by the bed itself. She quickly dragged the blank blanket, a diluted grey in color, over the boy's head and upper body covering him to the best of her abilities before quickly getting up again and turning around to face the newly opening door and the woman stepping inside clad in a dark emerald green robe. Her hair was a light blond in color, almost platinum, and cut short in a straight hairstyle that passed her shoulder by an inch or two. Her eyes were the color of soft green leaves dancing in the wind. She held something brown cradled in the crook of her left arm and smiled softly at the sight of the little girl standing up on her feet next to the foot of the bed. She fails to notice the fleeting hand gesture the child makes behind her back signaling the boy to be quite; in the heat of the moment she forgets entirely that only she can see him. _

_Katherine, as she's called, continued to smile for a moment longer as she closed the door behind her and walked up to the child. Unfortunately, her smile faded when Seras rejected her presence. _

"_Go away." She told the much younger nun, probably in her early thirties, with a harsh look in her lovely blue eyes._

"_I know you don't like it up here Seras, but Sister…"_

"_I don't want you here either."_

"_Seras…" Sister Katherine attempted to reach out towards the child only to find her turning her gaze away form her and avoiding her touch as though it brought great pain. She was upset; it was understandable under the circumstances. She was being punished for something completely out of her hands, yet punished none the less. The nun offered a second softer smile and with it a peace offering: Seras's teddy. _

"_I brought him back." Katherine place the medium sized bear on the surface of the bed dangerously close to spotting the boy sprawled on the floor just a few cm away. After that she knelt on the opposite side of the bed and waited patiently._

"_He'll help you sleep better."_

"_I don't want him!" Seras says just before shoving the stuffed toy from the bed causing it to fall between the boy's legs. "I don't want anything from you. She'll just take it back!" _

"_No I promise." The nun replies reassuringly before grabbing gentle hold of the child's upper arms. "I promise Sister Beth won't take it from you again. I've spoke to the father and he agrees, I promise."_

"_You're lying." It was not the reply Katherine had been expecting; she had thought the girl happy and taking her toy from the floor embracing it with joy when instead Seras continued to ignore it as though it meant nothing at all. "Just like when you promised she won't lock me in here again. You're a liar." Seras moved back as if the nun's touch stung her very skin; she did not like to be touched and it was something she'd long displayed since her very first nights at the orphanage._

_Katherine's expression changed from that of comfort to feeling sorry for the poor child. She had seen many such younglings over the years and yet the blonde's case struck a somewhat harder cord._

"_I'm sorry but that is not in my power to change. I understand this is hard for you, you are still so very young, so tiny," her right hand brushed Seras's long bangs out of her eyes striving to appease her troubled soul. Once again she found her gesture to be refused and the counsel it provided rejected. Seras's heals hit the soles of the boy's feet as she backed up a quarter of a step more. "This isn't meant as punishment."_

"_I didn't do anything, why do I have to be here?" Seras asked urgently demanding adequate reply. It was a question Katherine had no immediate answer to and needed a moment before offering one._

"_Your screaming in the night…" she started to explain in a friendly tone fully intending to clarify the entire situation so the that the almost 7 year old child could understand. Regrettably, the latter would not let her._

"_But he's doing things!" she all but screamed in frustration in the woman's face. God damn it, did no one understand? Could no one… "He's doing…and…and mom's not moving and I can't do anything. No one helps me when I scream. I have to h…"_

"_Seras."_

"_Why doesn't anyone do something? Why isn't," the first wave of tears broke through the girl's strong defense and rolled down her cheeks: one over a pale cream colored one and the other over the a fading a bluish to green stain just under her left eye. "Why isn't she coming back? She promised she would come, she promised." _

"_She's dead Seras."_

"_She promised!" Seras screamed in a heart retching tone that made even the boy cringe for a moment and caused his eyes to narrow and brown to frown beneath the blanket._

"_Seras listen to me!" Katherine too raised her voice silencing the frail and young one. Yet seeing the impact her words had on the little girl, she lowered it new. "Please hear me me. They aren't coming back, nothing can bring them back. Understand that. I'm not trying to…"_

_The look in Seras's distraught orbs forced her to stop and rethink. The child gazed upon her in such fashion only one word could describe it: betrayal. Every one, every single person she had met so far, be it adult or child, had not taken the time to stop and listen to her once. She knew death, she understood what the doctor had said, what the priest had told her during the funeral, what everyone kept saying over and over again, yet none had listen to what she didn't hear them say. Her mom and dad were not coming back but why? Because she failed to act? Because she didn't do as told and stayed put inside the closed? Because of what that man had done? Because her mom…moved with him when she shouldn't have been? And why was it, each time she would shut her eyes in the dead of night, the woman's expression changed form lifeless to complete and utter disappointment. _

_The freely running tears stopped in their tracks the more the nun stared into the girl's face. That one look of pure hatred hidden behind defiance made her stand out so very much and with great intensity. Most children usually came around with time, but the blond showed absolutely no sigh whatsoever. She could be reasoned with and talked to like any normal child, yet there were times everyone's words reached nothing but deaf ears and a hardened emotionless gaze. _

"_You need to stop looking at me like that, looking at everyone like that. I am not your enemy, no one here is. We want what's beast for you but you need to let us do it. I know it hurts, I understand you can't let go and we're not asking you to. Stop disobeying and stop hurting yourself."_

"_Go away." Seras told her sternly head held high and pride lining her every word; hidden beneath the stale colored blanket the raven haired boy grinned, his lips curling upward in a most satisfied smirk. If only he could see her beautiful blue eyes and the disbelieving look in the nun's green one. It would have been a sight worthy of divulging his presence; not that anyone but her could see him. Yet had such a possibility been available to him he wouldn't have hesitated in the least. _

"_Go away." _

_The second time around brought even harsher words. Another pair of feet creaked as they approached the room's door before the latter was opened and the elder nun stepped into the room clearly looking for the younger sister. She had been listening outside for the past two to three minutes. Her voice was stone cold and just as hard and ruthless as when she had addressed Seras alone._

"_Katherine. I did not send you here to quarrel with a mere child nor have I allowed you to return a toy to her when she clearly shows no respect whatsoever for the act itself. Some other child could benefit form it."_

"_She doesn't understand sister that is all." Katherine spoke in defense of the little blond girl who was now staring at the newcomer. She in turn was not impressed. _

"_Take the bear and come. The child will calm on her own or not at all."_

_That said Beth turned to leave. Her words may have been said with good indentations, but the elder nun was far too much a student of discipline than on of compassion when it came to disobedient children under her care. The look in Seras's irises at the mention of removing her last and only keepsake was one of horror and utter disbelieve; it almost pushed her to the bring of crying and shattering the already fragile wall she'd put up. Both her fists desperately wanted to clench tingly, more so the teddy in question, and yet she continued to keep her hands perfectly still._

"_Tomorrow sister," At least one gesture had been understood and picked up by the younger nun. "If she doesn't do her chores tomorrow or is yet again violent in any way, I'll take it for good. This way she can do her penitence and prove she's sorry for disobeying."_

"_Do as you like." Sister Beth replied form under the doorframe. "But this **will** be last time I put up with such behavior. Other children have suffered heartache, she's nothing special."_

_With those words the nun left the two, well three souls, for good all alone in the room. Katherine remained for an additional minute or so before she too left. She closed the door behind her, the latch clinging as she shut it. Seras stood there unmoving even after the fabric of the grey blanket ruffled and the boy she'd concealed without proper motivation got up from his position and approached her with hushed steps. Her shoulders didn't quiver or tremble and neither did her fingers move an inch; all that was left was the crystal clear trail of water sliding down her cheeks and sparkling in the lamp's light now free of any restraint whatsoever. After he reached her side left side he touched her shoulder with his right hand. No sooner had his fingers made contact that she turned and buried her entire face into his chest and began to sob finally releasing her shoulders from the heavy burden of being strong. His arms wrapped themselves around her shaking frame offering the tiny girl the much needed support she required._

"_I understand." His words spoke volumes and his tone made her sob yet again and tighten her grip on his shirt for a moment before she let go of it completely and moved her arms under his so that her hands rejoined behind his back and held on firmly. Her palms settled a short while later over the small of his back after twisting and turning the fabric in her grasp a few times until she calmed herself down enough to just stand there in his arms, as close as possible, without moving a muscle. He didn't let go until she willingly decreased the hold she had on him and pulled her hands back towards her chest._

"_It's alright little one." _

_Despite his endearment and the softness of his tone Seras shut her eyes and shook her head as if utterly displeased to hear such a thing. Her shoulder tensed beneath his palms and she whimpered stopping the subsequent sob from taking shape. _

"_No…" She whispered so silently the sound barely reached the elder's ears. The phrase was a familiar one, 'little one', from both her parents as well a strange darker voice, rich and deep, that always seemed to accompany them like a lost and out of place echo._

"_You don't want me calling you that?" he questioned her, his tone low and steady, whilst kneeling in front of her on his right knee and bringing their faces together at an even level. Seras did not reply nor lift her head and face. Her tears may have stopped but her cheeks were still moist from when they did. "Do you want me to or not?" _

"_Yes…" the reply he received was nothing short of a pitiful plea hanging precariously on the edge of a cliff. Her gaze hesitantly rose from studying her feet and followed the path along his body until their eyes met for a brief second only as his face swiftly dipped and his lips captured her left cheek in a fleeting touch to which he then smiled. Seras orbs held a question the moment he pulled away yet she seemed highly reluctant to let her thoughts take form. Thus he voiced it himself. _

"_Should I not do this also?"_

"_I don't know." The child told him in a mousse tone wiping her other cheek on her own with the back of her right sleeve. "Why would you?"_

"_Because I like you." his sentence was straightforward and to the point. "Don't you like me?"_

_Seras nodded as the corners of her tiny mouth curled upward in a sketch of a smile and she took in a deep breath to calm herself._

"_Then why shouldn't I little one?" the question was asked in an as deep manner as his boyish voice would allow while pushing his face forward a tad more so that their noses almost touched and the faint trace of a light blush began to stain the blond child's cheeks. The words spoken may have been good reason as to 'why' yet the innocence displayed in her sky blue eyes outmatched them in the 'why not' category. Still, he desired to hear her answer, a trait that would obviously not go away as the years progressed but instead would only intensify. _

"_I don't know." Her big bright orbs stared at him hopefully requiring something from him with a nearly desperate need before anything more could be said. "You won't leave will you? They…mom liked me too but she's gone; dad too." _

_The raven haired boy merely took hold of her hands in his somewhat larger ones and entwined their fingers together lightly squeezing. Afterwards he left his forehead rest against hers in a way that let the two different colors of their locks mash and mix as one. The look in his eyes was an understanding and sympathizing one._

"_Niciodata. Iti promit ca niciodata."(1)_

_His words brought immediate comfort in spite of the language barrier. Seras my not have understood but that didn't seem to pose a problem at the time. All she required at the moment was the warmth felt in the safe and ungrudging embrace of at least one true friend and not one made up: her head nestled itself in the crook of his throat and her arms draped over his developing shoulders with her fingers holding onto his shirt and the back of her hands hidden more than halfway in the long sleeves of her t-shirt. The raven haired boy knelt in response allowing her all the room she required to change their position to her advantage._

_It would be some time later that the two parted and sat Indian style on the dull colored blanket of the one person bed facing each other about a palms length in between. The single bulb of the small lamp on the nightstand next to the left side of the bed lit the room while the drapes, though somewhat tattered, old and the stitched somewhat visible, were drawn to cover the window. The dark brown teddy, once thrown to the floor in anger, was lovingly cradled in the child's arms in front of her chest._

"_I can't stay with you long tonight but I promise to come back. I'm not leaving." The older boy told her though reluctant due to the promise he'd made earlier about 'not' leaving. _

"_Tomorrow?"_

"_No, not tomorrow." He replied softly regret lining his voice even though he tired to keep the smile on his face tender and sincere as he brushed some of the long bangs from her forehead. "You need a haircut little one."_

_Seras's hair had grown longer as the light gold strands of her bangs well passed more than half her eyes and the rest her shoulders by about an inch and a half: the spike outline of the back of her hair was missing and was instead as straight as a board. She had refused to cut them ever since the faithful incident involving her parent's death and her unfortunate relocation to that sorrow filled place. _

"_So do you." She tells him sadly lowering her head so that the locks he'd previously brushed behind her left ear fell back over her forehead and eyes. Her chin landed in the teddy's ears over his soft dark brown fur. _

"_You can convince me next time then to cut it." _

_This time he teased her knowing full well she wouldn't. Future experience granted him the knowledge her older self would be more fond of his long tresses than the shorter ones when it came to running her fingers through the untamed, silken locks. Besides that, it had always brought a certain amount of satisfaction to see the sparkle in her eyes whenever he would voluntarily do it on her behalf without needing to be asked; more so when that look came from a woman sighing and laying beneath him as they partook in pleasures of the flesh. _

"_What does 'nicio…od…data' mean?" her tiny voice woke him up and he blinked twice regaining his composure._

"_It means never."_

"_Then you are breaking your promise. You are leaving."_

"_I'm not." He reassured her without a moment's hesitation. "But I just **can't** stay. It's hard to explain why but I won't lie and tell something different. I know I promised you the same thing last time too and I'm sorry it took so long to see it through, but I'm here now. This is the last time and I won't be so long the next."_

"_Because you like me?" She questioned with hopeful eyes trying her best to understand the rather confusing situation; at the same time hoping use his own words against him._

"_Foarte mult."_

_Vlad lowered his head a little towards her and brushed the rebellious strands back behind her left ear with his right hand. What he said to her in his native tongue he quickly reformed in English so that she may understand on her own terms; it would be a long time after all until they would be able to have a decent conversation in that language alone. "Very much so. It just can't be tomorrow or the next day. Can you understand?"_

_Taking a moment to process the information, Seras nodded clutching the teddy bear tightly to her chest. The large blue orbs which gazed upon him lowered and glazed over as though preparing for a new wave of tears that never came. If she had been strong before the Sister she could be strong for her friend as well. Her teeth on the other hand continued to bite and chew at her bottom lip restraining the flow of words. _

"_You can," she cautiously began to say while raising her head high once again. "Stay now? Tonight?"_

"_Of course." The boy grinned to the best of his abilities. _

"_Vlad?"_

_And then she'd said it. For the first time ever since their very first meeting and introduction, Seras called him by his given name taking him a bit by surprise; a fact well shown along the contours of his handsome face: the ocean deep eyes framed by pale white skin so much paler than her own but not ghostly vampiric pale just yet and raven dark hair. "Why is screaming in the dark so bad?"_

_He could tell right after that sentence was finished that it held a certain amount of importance about it and if he left too soon she needed to know the answer beforehand._

"_It's not little one. You can scream all you like until your throat gets sore form the effort if you have to. There's nothing wrong about it nor is it your fault if those around you don't understand. What you saw can't be dismissed or forgotten so easily. Trust me," his lips arched upward in a failed smile. It wasn't happy or carefree even teasing as before, instead sad and melancholic and perhaps with a hint of something more, irony. "I know."_

"_How?"_

_As innocent as that statement was meant to be it still succeeded in bringing painful memories to the surface of a once long buried past. This time he was the one to lower his head and hide his eyes from the small child behind his own ebony bangs and remain still and quite just like a mouse hiding from a cat. The memories were, in fact, far worse that **just** painful._

_Surprisingly though, he had been on the verge of speaking and divulging just a bit of it when he felt knees touch his and her forehead and chest come together as Seras's forehead leaned on him still holding the bear in her embrace. Her sentence was as silent as his immediate answer had been and yet both children had come to understand the other's meaning without uttering a single syllable: his 'I can't tell' or ' It hurts to tell' and her 'I understand'._

"_You aren't to blame." Vlad eventually said in a serious tone. His palm grabbed her shoulders molding over the small surface they provided and gently pushed her back until the last lock of gold left the black of his cotton shirt. "Know that. Bad thing happen whether we want them to or not. We can only face the darkness head on and not run from it."_

"_I don't scream because I'm afraid."_

"_I know." He grinned knowingly. She didn't scream out of fear, he'd felt and saw that much to comprehend why, but her voicing it somehow meant more. Seras's younger version was proving herself just as interesting, if not more, than the older version he'd come to know at an intimate level. She seemed much more…darker? No, that wasn't the right word for it: less concerned perhaps, detached emotionally from worldly things around her except for those which stood as support beams for her entire existence. She seemed far stronger, again emotionally, than any child her age in her time who'd lost everything in a horribly violent fashion and bore witness to it all; far less 'human', one who would cry, pity himself and blame his life and curse it and more like the vampire she was meant to be._

"_No you don't, liar."_

_Just like that, out of the blue, the sad and pathetic excuse of a child he would have though her to be had he not witness her trial himself, smiled so beautifully as if not having a care in the world while playfully teasing him back with a mischievous sparkle in her lovely, innocent irises. Her smile was so bring it was contagious and the boy had to ply along or face burning alive from the warmth it so freely projected. A reminder once again of what he would have in times to come and what he needed to keep alive._

"_Of course I do," his diplomatic answer came just as teasing as her own. His right index finger poked the middle of her forehead once. "I'm older." The moment concluded, his gaze turned serious as did the tone of his rich voice while speaking her name as though the words merely purred from his lips. _

"_I meant what I said Seras."_

"_Yes I know." The girl offered a new smile nodding her head as she went, her eyes intently focused on his face. "I mean, you're not an angel or anything since only I can see you, but I don't mind."_

_Vlad smirked much like the ancient vampire would have before chuckling from the pit of his chest._

"_And why wouldn't I be an angel little one? I might be hiding my wings for all you know."_

_Both his rhetoric question and, misleadingly, upset answer were meant to test her._

"_I can tell." Seras told him maintaining visual contact for about a second longer before lowering her gaze and staring at the legs as though they suddenly became the most important objects in the entire world. Afterwards, however, the smile returned as a happy chuckle of her own and she bravely and confidently raised it one final time and said: "But I don't mind."_

_Vlad regarded her a moment's time, irises going over each and every inch of her tiny face, before his shoulders relaxed and slackened, his head dropped to the left about two inches in length and he flashed her a true grin without holding anything back any longer. The tale-tale signs lengthening fangs came to life the very second he allowed his canines to grow and the rest of his teeth to change and become what they were always meant to be: a vampire's fangs._

_Flashback end _

The subtle increase of pressure over the small of her back helped ease Seras out of her recollection of events not so long passed. As he'd promised he'd not returned the next day or the following, but approximately a week after. And now, now they were here wherever here was. As for Elena she watched on a moment longer then turned her head forward and entered the portal without delay vanishing into its swirling black mass; the gateway remained open.

Some of the tension at being discovered left Vlad's body and he relaxed against the form of the smaller girl and that of the wall his back was leaning against. He didn't expect hers to stiffen and a sigh to leave her lips. His gaze drifted down from the direction of the portal and saw the huge form of the hellhound walk passed them so close his midnight black fur brushes against her side and his shoulders well passed those of the frightened little girl. His chest vibrated with the constant low rumble it emanated until he increased it by parting his jaws and exposing his teeth as his head turned to face the child as if challenging her for position; the growl the returned to its steady pace and the beast kept on walking. Seras followed his every move with keen interest despite the initial shock he'd put her though.

"Stai." The boy commanded earning another menacing snarl form the creature as the latter was forced to obey; he knew but _one_ master and he was not some…_boy_. The red of his eyes met ocean blue as the youngling in question raised his head yet again exposing the underside of his lean jaw bone to the light. He gently nudged Seras backwards and moved from the wall his back had been pressed into. His right arm left the small of her back and sought out her left hand instead after which he walked in front of her acting like a protective shield between her tiny body and the giant one of the hellish hound.

Unknown to the girl Vlad's beautiful blue irises glowed a frightening blood red as the two stared into each others eyes in an unspoken conversation.

"Vlad?" the child asks peering at the monster from behind his black cloak. Curiosity and hesitance lined her gentle voice: she whished to know if he agreed to consent.

Baskerville eventually relinquished the dominance in his stance and lowered his shoulders and tail though he chose to bare his long canines one final time.

"Look at her." he spoke to the wolf hound instead of answering her question. "Acum. Uită-te la ea."(2)

At the same time he gently urged the girl to move in front of him by pulling on her right hand and then resting his left on her shoulder for support. He holds her close and safe as he slowly begins to extend their joint hands towards Baskerville's mouth. His larger palm caresses the back of hers and coaxes her fingers too reach out. "Cunoaşte-o. De ea vei asculta în lipsa mea. Tot ce spune, tu vei asculata şi te vei supune împruna cu toţi ceilalţi."(3)

Unfortunately, things weren't always so simple as Baskerville declined refusing to submit further. His jaws opened wide and his head snapped forward ready too bite the child's hand straight off had it not been for the boy's quick reaction; he successfully pulled both limbs out of the way in time. Seras screamed in fear backing up as far as the small distance between herself and Vlad's chest allowed as well as his hand upon her shoulder which by then had wandered around her front and the base of her throat till it rested over the opposite clavicle.

"Nu te teme."(4) He tells her but she doesn't understand and her breath continues to grow more and more elaborate the further she gazed over the hound's form, his glowing orbs and the saliva dripping off his glistening teeth; the fear within consumed her nature.

Baskerville moved to strike again at such blatant display of weakness. Power was easy to come by especially in front of such feeble and easy prey.

"Nu te atinge de ea!"(5) Vlad commands in a voice no longer his own and a tone a dark and deep baritone which by itself alone demanded the utmost respect; the hound's ears immediately respond and flatten against the top of his skull. "Indrăzneşte şi am să te distrug. Nu o vei atinge!"(6) throughout his entire speech we moved forward forcing Seras to go along with him completely unaware of her persistent display to stay right where she was: the sols of her shoos pressed hard into the surface of the carpet creating friction meant to decrease her movement just as her spine did with the middle of his chest. Her left hand clenched desperately at his right, both laid over the surface of her yet flat chest, alone in its task until her other joined in as well; the pounding sound of her heart created a steady, though fast, rhythm against his warm skin. She only stopped struggling, and would not have done it otherwise, had it not been for the sudden appearance of the voice never before heard. The way in which it spoke unknown words, harsh and without restraint or patience or kindness whatsoever sent shivers running down her spine. It alone had the power to inspire fear from the very moment it touched ones ears. The only other time she'd a heard voice seemingly resembling this one had been the day Vlad came into her existence, but it couldn't possibly be the same. Though the tone was a beautiful rich baritone in both, one held compassion and patience while the other nothing but malice. So powerful in fact it had the frightening beasts all around corner and hide from it: they whimpered and whined with tails between their legs and belly quickly pressing into the ground beneath them as they assumed a submissive position. And despite the black dog's lingering resolution to defy, the boy won in the end with his capitulation. The boy that stood before the monster was no longer a mere _boy_. His own teeth, now deadly fangs elongated far more than he'd shown the child, enforced the message his eyes were sending.

"Vei asculta şi te vei supune. O vei cunoaşte după miros, vedere şi gust şi o vei asculta."(7) Vlad's irises were so focused on getting his way he yet again failed to notice something regarding the small blond girl trapped between two creatures of the night: she had raised her head and peered up over her shoulder towards him and the blazing red eyes which had taken the place of the calm blue ocean. Fear and confusion stared at him from behind her eyelashes and golden bangs and the two sentiments became a clear reflection of the sound her little voice made.

"Vlad?" she called his name in such a silent whisper it hardly rose above the conjoint murmur created by the whimpering wolves below. She gasped out loud stiffening against him the moment his scorching eyes fell upon her figure burning everything.

Facing parts of himself in battles for dominance was nothing new to the ancient vampire, yet having one part face another in the whole wasn't so common. A mountain had many points and endings but only one peek making it virtually unprofitable for the former to succeed. Right now an insignificant part was spreading far out the reach of his own blanket and that could not and would not be accepted in any way. The child imposed himself, stood up and won. Then, he heard Seras speak and call his name and in sheer instinct gazed upon her like an obedient puppy to his master; ironically in the same fashion Baskerville was doing for him. Seeing her flinch had a deep impact and almost immediately the flaming crimson in his gaze died out as if starved of oxygen and the tranquil blue returned. Silence fell between the two.

Vlad swallowed the lump gathering in his throat the more time passed without any other sign from the frail creature he'd finally gotten to listen to him. Perhaps bringing her here so soon had not the best of ideas. Thus he said nothing but instead took it slow and knelt by her side patiently waiting. Baskerville didn't move an inch.

"Nu te teme nu-ţi fac r…" (8) The simple moment became too much and he broke his decision not to speak. Unfortunately, habit made him say his words in the tongue of his childhood once more. It made little difference to the small girl whose free hand left her chest and grabbed the edge of his hood as she turned to face him halfway; the remaining words stalled on the tip of his tongue.

Seras pushed the black fabric off his head revealing the somewhat longer raven locks than before tied back in a loose ponytail by a red ribbon and the ever present long bangs covering his forehead. A few of the still shorter strands which had escaped the constricting hold of the bow covered the sides of his face. The boy attempted to redeem himself by displaying the simplest of smiles.

"Are you afraid?" his voice is comes out smooth and gentle and the expression on his face caring and patient.

"Yes." Seras answered him truthfully placing a hesitant hand over his right cheek. Her tiny fingers stroked his skin reaching for his lips. He did show them to her but…if she looked again would they be the same or like before? A monsters…

"I'm sorry. It was not my intent little one."

As if hinting her thoughts he let his words roll slowly from his lips so that she had every opportunity to see his teeth in action. They were blunter and _almost_ normal just as they had been that night at the orphanage; a hint of fangs nothing more.

"It's alright." She whispered returning the gentle squeeze he still had on her right hand. "I don't mind."

"That is not what this is about I….how can I make you understand?" he tells her but ends up questioning himself.

"I understand."

"No, no you don't my little one." He brought the tiny hand in his grasp up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles tenderly. "I will not always be here Seras and because of that I need you to be looked after. He's not an ordinary hound and this place is anything but normal. I am…"

"Not normal?"

"Yes." He confirmed before asking something he'd not had the chance to so far. "What do you think, I am?"

"Nice." She smiles. "Scary, but nice. You're my friend, aren't you?"

"Of course. But more than that?"

"I don't know." He still hadn't his answer although he could easily tell she was being honest. It made little sense to question her and bring up the 'angel' issue they discussed back at the orphanage. He was no angel and that much was more than certain and written in stone. "I just…don't want you to go even if I am afraid. Don't leave."

"Scaring you isn't being your friend, far from it."

"But you're not and…and you said you were sorry. I'm not…"

"Please don't lie." Vlad lowered his tone looking at her in way that came natural due to the experience the vampire had with his draculina: intense and breathtaking. If there had ever been a single flaw to the breathtaking being she would become, this was it: lying when everything was wrong and not right. "You're still afraid."

"I don't really like wolves." Her voice was incredibly low, a mouse of a whisper.

"Seras." He brought their foreheads together nudging her gently as if scolding her. He could she through her so easily. Seras bit her lower lip and closed her eyes refusing to offer a genuine reply and instead hugged him tight. She freed her hand from his grasp and wrapped both her arms around his throat as she was still down on his knees and within reach. Then and there fear meant little when weighed against the prospect of being sent back, of being all alone. Her fingers tightened their hold on his clothes and a light whimper left her throat. Vlad's hands came from behind and curled around her back returning the embrace.

"I…I have to go in the dark…even if I'm afraid…"

The boy's fingers twitched against her flesh at that statement, at the familiarity of that particular statement.

_Will you little one? Despite your fear, will you follow me into the darkness? _

One little sentence and yet so utterly memorable; his grip intensified, concern filling his narrowing eyes.

"Who's told you that?" he inquired in hushed tones and a light voice.

"Someone nice, he's nice too. But he has funny eyes and teeth." she giggled that last part right next to his ear, the sound of it a far better one than the fear and concern it had previously carried. That said she moved back a bit and, as he mimicked her actions though somewhat reluctantly, added just a little more space between them. "Just...like you did. You looked…the same, almost."

The boy did not reply immediately though his eyes never stopped searching her face. "Would you hate me if I didn't tell you?"

"You _can't_?" she hinted in a manner which offered his a clear way out of a conversation he was not yet ready to share should he choose to acknowledge it.

"In a way." he confessed. "I can't but I also don't want to, a little bit of both. I..." he paused yet again orbs becoming sad and distant as he pondered what else to tell her.

"Can you show me again?"

"I'm sorry, no. It can't be now."

He replied standing up and removing both his hands from her body as to hide beneath the black fabric of his cloak. Nevertheless, that didn't seem to stop the adventurous little girl form reaching out with her right hand for his left; she tangled their fingers together and gave a light squeeze as her forehead went to rest over the warmth of his cloaked chest.

"You're mad at me."

Vlad shook his head in denial then said: "Myself."

And it was the truth. His jaws then clenched while his eyes narrowed almost to the point of closing entirely as he began to return the hold on her hand far too tighter than he should have. He squeezed until it became painful and yet Seras made no sound whatsoever.

/Because I will hurt you./ he thought in perspective of things yet to come. / Hurt you more than anything ever has. Even now you cling to me so willingly and trusting in the things I say when in fact I deserve nothing of what you have to offer. When I…/

His head dropped with fully shut eyelids that caught nothing but a glimpse of black before closing. The tale-tale sigh of his future fangs returned as the tips of his canines began protruding more than the rest of his teeth. His shoulders shook in a light and steady rhythm and he could feel Seras's other hand glide over the curve of his hip beneath the cloak until it settled there. The cry of such an innocent act brought to life from the simple need of comforting and easing whatever pain he was going through almost made the elder boy chuckle out lout had it not hurt so much. There would most likely never be such am moment between them and it appeared to be almost surreal that they succeeded in bonding so rapidly with another. How cruel the irony they fitted so well together even as children.

"I'm sorry…" he broke down with a sudden single sob as his irises threatened to shift to crimson beneath his eyelids and wetness, a crimson liquid in color, rolled over the surface of his cheek.

/I will hurt you…/ could the actual deed bring more suffering than the mere thought of it? Part of an earlier conversation with the auburn haired vampire surfaced the more he pondered the situation.

_Do you truly want to put her through such painful experience knowing full well what might await you? Our pasts, to most of us, are not worthy of reliving. Both of you hardly scratched the surface. You will see things, but she will see far worse._

/ I only wanted…/

"Silly master…" the giggling happy tune of a beautiful voice he came to know so well so well both echoed and sting like a knife at the same time and his eyes snapped open to a world surrounded in darkness that lasted but a second's worth. An image soon appeared: beautiful crimson orbs overflowing with pure love and affection and devotion on a bed of milky white skin and golden halo with deliciously full sensual lips coaxing and teasing his own to move. How strange that he was back at the manor, in the dungeon and in his chair with his long legs spread before him in a lazy position and hands to too slow to move. The mere heat of her gaze held him captive like a captured fool. Had he perhaps just woken when…

The kiss they shared was broken by a burst of infectious laughter so utterly pure and innocent his lips still tingled from the sweet contact despite her pulling back. "Silly m…"

The words came again and would have said more had it not been for: "I'm sorry." The child's 'I'm sorry' as her voice shattered through that entire moment causing him to gaps out loud and reopen his eyes, this time for real, to the familiarity of the setting before him: the room, the castle's structure and the little girl pressed up against him and looking up into his face with distraught blue irises at seeing him so utterly unresponsive to her repeated calls.

"I'm sorry." It came a second time and he was forced to blink in order to fully understand and focused on the situation at hand. His gaze fell upon her like a lingering touch. By now the frail skin of her wrist was already red and swollen beneath his grasp and would probably bruise later on despite the pressure placed over it decreasing significantly as things began making sense. Their touch continued though feather like. "Don't be mad we'll be friends alright?" she seemed so willing to please and yet he failed to understand, for the moment at least, to what she was referring to when saying 'we _will be_ friends' were they not already? Fortunately, he didn't have to ponder the subject further as she let go and moved away from him heading towards the demonic hound as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. The two had never had a 'relationship' so to speak despite their close relationship to the same ancient vampire and had rarely interacted in the past. This was taking it a step forward and a lot further than before.

"He's…he's not so bad, it's okay. We'll be friends you'll see." The same tiny and pale hand so afraid the first time was now petting the monster dog's head without a trace of fear or hesitation whatsoever. Instead her lips offered a genuine smile as she stood there crouched next to the latter and treated him like an overgrown puppy. As for Baskerville himself, however displeasing the situation might be, did not dare move or rise against her or her bold gesture. His chest may have rumbled at first as a sigh of warning not to touch or come closer; his body tensing, upper lip curling back and claws easing just a little out of the soft, harmless pads of his paws. Yet the entire conglomerate of elements soon retracted; her touch was not so bad after all. Her palm and fingers caressed his fur with care in a highly addictive and soothing manner. Maybe, for the time being, it wouldn't be such a burden to watch over and protect the whelp of a child.

Vlad marveled at the sight and continued to watch the strange turn in events from his place. And as he did so a though occurred in his mind and his right hand immediately rose to his cheek in search of wetness he did not find. There were no tears and no trace of them ever having existed. How when he distinctly remembered the feeling of thick droplets rolling down such a path moments ago as well as the distinct iron smell that came with it. He'd cried blood, had he not? But then why were they missing and what did that vision mean?

His half lidded eyes finally pulled their gaze away from his own hand as the later was removed from his face and his head returned to Seras's direction; they fell on the empty spot on the floor where both her body and that of his hound should have been. She was gone, the little girl was gone and panic soon filled his heart.

"Seras…Seras!" he calls her name once then shouts it much louder only to stop entirely at the realization that the latter came out in the shape of a small white cloud from where the warmth of his breath touched the coldness of the air around him. Chills ran down his spine and his ears followed the sound of forming ice and jerked his head towards it. There, in one of the corners of the somewhat curbed corridor, a decorative shield held a thin layer of frost which grew more and more until it covered it entirely. It was a coldness he was, unfortunately, quite familiar with. His feet moved on their own and without conscious thought propelling his body forward. She was nowhere in sight as he quickly scanned his surroundings along the hall, the stairway, everywhere until his feet reached the bottom step of the main stairway. He couldn't have been distracted for more than a few minutes, 2-3 at most, could he? Even the pack of wolves was gone as though swallowed by the ground itself.

Then, as if an eternity had already passed, he all but breathed a sigh of relief when the sound of squeaky hinges reached his ears and the corner of his right eye caught sight of the small movement of the single black door on the floor in question. He bolted for it and pushed it open with his left hand crashing it into the wall as he did so before running up the narrow flight of stair still covered in a thick layer of dust. No one had used it in such a long time that the small particles formed an almost blanket like structure over the rectangular stone stairs. Only two sets of prince marred it before his own were added to the pile: large and clawed belonging to a rather large animal and small, dainty ones distinctive of those of a child. They had come this way though whole long ago or how fast was still a mystery. He climbed maybe a meter or more before that stairway too parted. It led to a door and from this carried on upwards towards a new level and the top of the tower.

He opens the door and comes across the sight of Baskerville laying on the floor seemingly asleep and Seras surrounded by a swarm of shadows as though tied to an invisible stake burning alive. She stood unmoving in a circle of flame like tendrils as a large black silhouette hovered over her leaning it closer and closer with what appeared to be a long clawed hand underneath her chin raising it up. Seras's eyes were empty and starring into nothingness as she was being engulfed within the flames. The room was barren and ice cold just as the hall had been.

The last thing Vlad saw was the sparkle of her tears as they rolled down her cheeks from her empty and hallow eyes with pupils so small they could hardly be compared to the dots made by a pencil as he dashed forward, vanishing and reappearing, in the fraction of a second right next to he side so that his left arm wound around her slender waist and the two crashed to the floor. The unknown manifestation screeched its displeasure to the world as the girl was ripped from its deadly alluring grasp and the high pitched tone of its voice tore through the already damaged and ancient glass tiles of the only two windows of the room like a hot knife would a stick of butter.

Seras's back hit the floor as the boy rolled them over after their initial fall and then moved to shield her from the projected debris in the shape of many bits and pieces of sharp glass. Her fragile blue irises fell on the molted lava pools descending upon her without remorse in a sea of darkness over the boy's left shoulder. Her scream filled the upper levels of the castle as a far terrifying one did the same to the dungeon and catacombs below.

Deep, deep underground within the dark void of the world below the beauty of the ancient structure, the lid of a dark brown coffin was brutally ripped from its hinges and thrown more than halfway across the vast and empty space of the ancient catacombs. A blood covered pale arm reached out.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, an elder priest's footsteps moved over the clean surface of the wooden floorboards inside his office as he continued his lengthy conversation on the phone. He'd been talking for more than an hour now although the sun had not even fully woken.

"_Father you are sure that what you saw is…?" _A man's voice spoke to him from the other side of the phone line.

"Yes, yes of course." replied the priest all too quickly not leaving the man on the other end time to finish. "I am not a fool. _He's _been here several time in the old part of the library searching the record books and has even made a most peculiar request of me. This isn't something I made up but I have yet to g…."

"Hello father."

The sudden appearance of the deep voice came seconds after a gust of wind shut the door of his office with brutal force. It was enough to startle the old man to the point of forgetting everything about the discussion he'd been having. A long, highly unique, shadow cast an imposing form over the wooden floor of his study and the wall directly opposite of the largest window of the room. The chamber itself had been a former small wing of the church converted into a study by the last minister.

"_Father Julian, Father Julian..." _The voice continued to call with little hope of being heardas the man's eyes were intently focused on the figure of the boy he'd talked about just seconds earlier. The face, the clothing, the posture, all were exactly the same even that one crucial element: the dark violet to almost ebony black wings emerging from his shoulder blades and framing his arms o either side as they almost touched the floor with their tips. The angel of death had indeed returned as he'd once told the old priest.

"We meet again."

The priest could do nothing but drop the phone from his hand and make the sign of the cross with his other just once before the figure swooped down on him, his dark tainted wings engulfing him completely.

.

.

.

To be continued...

That's it for now, till next time.

Review would be greatfully apreciated.

shadow out.

translations:

1. Never. I promise you never.

2. Now. Look at her.

3. Know her. She's the one you'll be listening to in my absence. Everything she sais, you will listen and you will obey along with everyone else.

4. Don't be afraid.

5. Do not touch her!

6. Dare and I will distroy you. You will not touch her!

7. You will listen and you will obey. You will know her by sight, smell and taste and you will listen to her.

8. Don't be afraid I won't...


	9. Chapter 9

Note:

Sorry to those who've waited for a new chapter but I'm putting the story on a temporary break once again, at least until August, maybe September. I have a little of the next chapter done, about a 1/4, but it's going to have to wait until I find the time process everything else. I have a lot going on right now and so the story will just have to wait.

shadow out.


	10. Chapter 10 AN only

Author's note.

Sorry no chapter yet. I realize I said, long ago, I would be posting something sometime in August or September but it just wan't meant to be. I a little more to go before I have aproximately 3/4 of the story done. It's taken me a long time to proces the individual parts of the story and mold them all together into something that makes sence, however everything I have written is written down on PAPER and not my computer. I hate sitting for hours in front of the screen with nothing but a blank page and writer's bloc so I started writting ideeas and chapters in notebooks; plus it's much easier to carry it around with me and write things that pop in my mind at random.

This is my last year at universtity, I'll be having exams all year next year too so everthing I write will be on paper. I have one gap to fill to link both my plot lines and finish the ending at least in idea, so I **might** start posting soon. For now, my earliest exams are in February and we'll see after that.

Happy new Year :)

shadow.


	11. Chapter 11 real chapter this time

Though it has taken me quite a bit, I've finally managed to put this chapter on my compure. The good news is all the next chapters are writen down on paper so I just have to rewrite them like this one and then edit them before posting. I have about 4 plots in this chapter alone and that took me some time link together.

Anyways, the next chapter should probaly be out in about a week.

**Chapter 7**

_"__Father Julian, Father Julian..." __The voice continued to call with little hope of being heard as the man's eyes were intently focused on the figure of the winged boy he'd talked about just seconds earlier. The face, the clothing, the posture, all were exactly the same even that one crucial element: the dark violet to almost ebony black wings emerging from his shoulder blades and framing his arms o either side as they almost touched the floor with their tips. The angel of death had indeed returned as he'd once told the old priest._

_"We meet again."_

_The priest could do nothing but drop the phone from his hand and make the sign of the cross with his other just once before the figure swooped down on him, his dark tainted wings engulfing him completely._

_..._

The small device hit the floor hard almost breaking in two had it not been for the piece of cloth fallen earlier from the priest's other hand. The person on the other end of the phone continued to call out with no answer.

_"What is going on?"_

"You must forgive father Julian, I seem to have scared him." Walter replies with a subtle smirk gracing his lips after picking up the phone and folding his wings.

_"What is this utter nonsense about…"_

"Nothing I'm afraid. You see father Patrick requested dusting the archives and we found some old costumes. The children wanted to play and the rest is thus quite irrelevant." Walter lied with such easy it came as natural as breathing.

"_Now listen here."_ The man's voice hardened clearly displeased. "_Julian has called me tree times so far rambling nothing but gibberish and I do not appreciate being taken for a fool."_

"Forgive but I know only of this time that he has called."

"Put him on." The voice demands.

"I'm sorry but…"

"Ah there you are my boy." A different voice echoed in the small chapel as an elderly gentleman spoke appearing from the room behind the altar. His hair was short and grey with soft dark eyes and a gentle smile on his lips. He carried a bible I his left hand and a reddish brown cane in his right to help him walk. His stride was small and his legs slightly trembling with age. "I've been waiting for your visit."

_"Are you listening to me?" _the voice shouted.

"Yes, yes of course." Walter replies turning his attention back to the conversation at hand. A difficult task considering the elder priest never stopped talking.

"You are late though, I was expecting you earlier. How's…"

"I'm sorry perhaps you'd prefer talking to father Patrick yourself. He's just here." The teen raises his voice just slightly to cover the priest's words before turning to face him completely. He offers the phone with a subtle smile.

"I assume the conversation went well?" Half an hour later finds the teen wingless in a small yet rather dusty room filled to the brink with old files and books. Rafters littler the walls from top to bottom; there wasn't even an inch of space between the different bodies of the ceiling high makeshift bookcases. He was in the process of carrying several cardboard boxes back to their original place at the bottom of the shelves.

"As well as it could have." The priest, having just entered the room, took a seat at the small wooden table situated in the middle of the room, his hands resting on the curved head of his cane as he placed it between his knees. "I thought we had agreed on you keeping those wings of yours hidden from sight?" His tone sounded scolding, and yet he was far more amused than angry. "You didn't have to show off."

"You wanted him gone Paddy." Walter replies picking up yet another box.

"Well of course I wanted him gone. He's been running all over my nice quite church for the past week disrupting things and looking for who knows what down here. Plus I do not require a sitter at my age."

"You're 83 Paddy."

"So? You're 116 if I may dare to speak the truth. At least I have aged with dignity and grace."

"And still I'm worse for showing my wings? That's cruel even for a priest."

"Perhaps." He replies while watching in silence as the last two remaining boxes are neatly put back into place. "Just what are you looking for exactly?"

"Secrets." The teen replies dusting off his hands. "And probably the same thing as your friend.

"Then you won't find any there. People always search books first, you know that. Everyone know that, it's common knowledge like breathing or eating."

"My secrets aren't on paper Paddy. They're better hidden than that."

"Well of course they are. Otherwise people wouldn't have hidden something of value in a small, aged wooden box in a dark secret room." Paddy rambles one without ca are or even a breath of air until he's finished. "A secret room conveniently located behind the bookcase behind me perhaps?"

"You don't say?"

"You are looking for a coffin, are you not?"

"I may."

"Of course you are. Just because you haven't told doesn't mean I don't know. You are working for that family after all. Not to mention all the other asor…"

"Paddy…" Walter kindly interrupts him knowing from experience his old friend had a tendency to jump from one idea to another rather quickly, sometimes without even being aware of it. The tale-tale signs of growing and passing a certain age.

"Must you always cut me off when I ad a little more flavor to the conversation? It's quite rude, you know?"

"So speaks a man of experience?" the teen asks leaning over the table.

"A man whose been passed on a secret, yes. Or do you not wish to know what I know any more?"

"Who's told you Paddy? And_ how much?"_

"Not as much as you might think. There's a brick that comes loose and you can very well imagine the rest. The secret in itself wasn't passed on to every priest attending this small parish generously provided for in terms of money by the old man centuries ago. Father Thomas was very picky, and a bit eccentric as well. I always thought he was missing a few cups form his cupboard, especially with all his staring out the window in latter years. I don't know why but it always unnerved me deep down."

The teen merely chuckled in amusement but said nothing about it.

"It wasn't until later I found out a possible reason for it, but it was still eerily strange. You do know I have other vampire remains and some weird coffin in my cellar, don't you?

"You really are mad Paddy." Walter tells him genuinly smiling while leaning his head into his left hand and finally taking the empty seat opposite side of the table. His action in turn causes the priest to laugh hard at the teen's rather infectious smile.

"Might as well be. I don't have much else left." His laughter eventually quitted down becoming a gentle hum. "Life has a way of slipping through your fingers faster than you might think."

"Indeed it does."

"You haven't yet told me why it is you need that old thing."

"For killing the vampire most likely." Walter's response is completely casual as though it were lacking any real significance. "I haven't yet taken the proper time to _ponder_ over Alucard's need of it."

"And what of your need? This is the first time you've taken interest in this subject in a very long time. "

"Things have changed since then." His tone turned somewhat melancholic. "Plus Thomas never quite agreed to show me."

"Well you were kind of shady boy; I have to tell you that."

"A trait somewhat difficult to forget. But it has made me the best."

"Indeed it has."

A moment passes in silence between the two before the priest decides to change the subject.

"ASo tell me," he smiles rather curiously. " How is the little one?"

"Kicking." He replies with a soft smile and a gentler look in his blue eyes. "Although I can't help but worry for them both. Integra's almost lost the baby twice and she still won't tell when something's wrong. She's hiding things, everything to be exact." The smile subsides and his tone turns ironic. "I hold no trust and she doesn't even have to tell me. It's always in her eyes when her guard falls."

"Trust is always easier to break than earn."

"Then what should I do, confess? That would take years Paddy." His shoulders slouch as if to reinforce his words.

"You could always talk to her instead of me."

"She's too proud for that."

"Perhaps you are the one too proud to acknowledge that which you have done"

"I've already apologized Paddy. What more do you want?"

"Maybe you haven't apologized for the right thing." With one sentence the priest captured his full attention. "Perhaps it's something you're not aware of."

"What I have broken Paddy?" this time the teen's question wasn't spoken out of anger but genuine concern as well as interest.

The priest smiles. "The mind is a fickle thing and I do not presume to understand how it works. I have no answer to give, I'm sorry."

"Then I should have no more questions to ask."

"No." Patrick contradicts him with a shake of his head and a pad of his cane against the stone tiles of the floor. "You have many yet to ask, many more. Just ask the right ones."

Walter stares at his old fried contemplating his words until the latter suddenly gets somewhat quickly for his age up leaning against his cane and pushes his chair back.

"Enough now, you've not come for here a moral lecture. Go on the, go find your treasure. That way I might finally be able to see what's inside the damned thing before i kick the bucket."

The angel sketches a smile through lowered bangs putting the train of melancholic thoughts behind him. He too pushed his chair back.

The search would prove most interesting.

.

.

.

The grandfather clock mounted on Makube's office wall anounced the time: 9.30.

"I do not appreciate tardiness _Mr._ McCoy." A rough and husky voice spoke up from behind a large wooden desk, his chair turned around so the back was facing the door and as such to the man just walking in. a few more minutes had passed until the scheduled appointment could finally be held. The latter wore a clean charcoal black suit, white shirt and black tie and carried a dark brown leather briefcase in his left hand. "You are at least 35 minutes late and the meeting was scheduled for 9 o'clock sharp."

"Yes and I do apologies. However, I'm confident my report will be more than satisfactory." Walking over to the chair opposite of the desk he took a seat and placed his briefcase on the floor next to him. A second figure entered the office behind him shutting the door before walking across the room and stopping next to the desks' right side. The figure faced the light brown haired man and, despite the bandages covering her face, his onyx eyes met grayish-green in silent contact. Afterwards he broke eye contact and placed his suitcase on top of the desk in front of him opening it. "As I've said the report will more than suffice. Plus the information your boy Jonah provided was quite useful, more than adequate Makube."

"It better be." The elder gentleman replies watching as McCoy took out a dark brown folder and passed it over. "Now, tell me what you know."

"The fledgling is still missing and my attempts to locate her have been unsatisfactory so far. It's as if the earth has swallowed up somehow."

"He's taken her to his castle. That much is certain."

"One I also can't seem to find anywhere. The Carpathians are vast and even the known areas from past experiences have yield nothing." He pauses for a moment.

"Perhaps it would be wiser to let her come to us rather than continue searching in vain for our elusive needle. She is so far our sole surviving subject which I can only conclude is due to the blood she shares with the vampire. It's true the Major's plan failed in annihilating the creature; however he succeeded in keeping him at bay for almost 30 years. All subjects suffer from psychological effects, memory lost especially." His lips curl upward in a knowing grin. "They no longer recognize themselves."

"So she's _immune_?" Makube asks his question dropping the file.

"I would not call it _immune_ to the fullest sense of the word. We may never know what exactly occurred in those 30 years to make the vampire return, nor the extent to which he has influenced his fledgling. The Childe was driven mad and forced into slumber. And when she awoke she faired no better. I therefore do not believe the question is whether she continues to live but for how long? Alucard has returned _alone_."

"Alone?" The priest's eyes narrow at the statement and he leans forward over his desk placing his elbow on top of it and his chin over his joint hands.

"As alone as anyone can be. As such you see both my reasoning and my problem. He has hardly left her side during her slumber so why abandon her to fate in a foreign country not her own?"

"And if he gave her to someone? Someone like this new vampire he's brought into the Hellsing manor."

"Would you?" McCoy counters suggestively leaning back into his chair and crossing his right leg over the left. Afterwards he places both elbows on top of the twin armrests and entwines his fingers together in front of his chin. "If you were a creature scorn by both the dead and the living, would there truly be anyone you would entrust your most prized possession to? Something, if you had the means and the ability to perform, could be so easily corrupted and left utterly vulnerable." He grins darkly once again. "Death has a way of finding us all, through many ways and various scenarios we ourselves may have never thought of."

"Then you already consider Seras Victoria as _dead_?"

"Hardly." He chuckles. "I consider her temporarily out of my reach. She will come. I assure you gentlemen; Seras Victoria will return and when she does things will certainly change."

"And if she doesn't? Just how do you propose we eliminate her then? Iscariot will not set foot in that God forsaken place, not now and not ever. Not unless we have _certainty_ of _our_ undisputable success." He made sure to emphasize the most crucial part of that statement.

"That won't be necessary. She **will** come to us." McCoy smirks dropping his hands and letting them settle over the armrests. "For you see I did not reached the position I am in by guessing blindly or good looks. Now, I am the Queens representative in this matter and empowered, in all means, to deal with the current freak and vampire infestation once and for all just as you are on behalf of the Catholic Church and the Vatican. More so I have the Royal order of Rebellious Knights behind me, all except one of course. We humans are such fickle creatures, are we not? We accept or deny matters we can never truly have control over, explain things through false reasoning simply because we do not understand, even consider the existence and validation of being beyond our world, _God_." He takes a moment to raise his gaze and meet the priest's narrowed eyes. Nonetheless, he continues. "By all means we have even come to accept vampires and freaks and desire to be them and have what they have. But one thing gentlemen, one thing will never truly be accept regardless of origin, nation or creed…" This time his pause is longer and the silence it brings the equivalent of the calm before a horrific storm. "An immortal _human_."

"Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing." Makube spells out each fragment of the knight's name with bitter distain.

"It is highly impossible for two people to be so utterly different yet remarkably the same at the same time."

A second folder is taken out the suitcase and thrown over the surface of the desk; two photos roll out of: a platinum haired woman and a dark haired man.

"We all agree the fairytale weaved about the child of Sir Hellsing is nothing more than a fairytale. The demeanor, the speech pattern and the body language, they are all far too similar despite several attempts to change them. Even the difference in appearance is not that conclusive as you can well see. I do not know for certain what exactly occurred 9 years ago since all I those who had taken part and I have asked seem to have developed amnesia, however, Selene Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing is none other than the _former _Sir Hellsing. It has taken a great deal of time and effort to procure said information but _blood_ does not lie and neither does DNA testing. All the test match, they are the same."

"And the boy?"

"Ah yes, Walter C. Dornez." McCoy leans over the desk himself to open the folder containing the spilled pictures; Walter's name pops up in bold lettering in the second half of the folder. "Born 1931 and active member of the Hellsing organization until his supposed death in 1991 when he became a traitor to his Queen and country. And now, miraculously, we have yet another descended whose picture matches the only one known on file from the Second World War records. As for Mr. Dornez's medical records, let's just say they were even harder to track down than Integra's. Still old age catches us all. You will find more information in my reports as I'm not here to scholar you in either medical terms or waste both your time and mine with such useless nonsense."

A third and final folder was removed from the suitcase. And unlike the previous two, it bore the royal seal of the crown imprinted on the front and bold red lettering beneath it with the word _Classified_.

"On the contrary, I am here to offer you a proposal. One I more than certain you will find most enticing."

The folder fell with a loud thump in the silence his words left behind. McCoy leans back into his chair waiting, watching and grinning; a rather mischievous smirk, a devilish upward curl of his thin, pale lips.

"The year 2030, as we all know, marked the year of Sir Hellsing last stand as leader of the Hellsing Organization. By her own act she dissolves the Hellsing Organization as a whole placing it the hands and leadership of the Royal Order of Rebellious Knights who, by the order of the Queen, are to maintain its function and purpose of protecting Britain against those undead or of supernatural origins upon her death. The document was signed by all the knights as well as the queen herself and witness by neutral parties who are to this day ready to swear on the validity of the act. Unfortunately, the summer of 2038 buried everything away. The Organization was attacked by one unknown to us in all aspects with the exception of a few snap shots taken of her via the internal security measures of the manor itself. The dark haired woman remains to this day unidentifiable and with no name despite my best efforts of tracking her down she simply does not exist."

"A vampire?"

"Most likely, yes. All I can say for certain is that she no longer possesses a threat. She was been taken care of. The issue which does concern us however, is the aftermath of that encounter: Integra left and Selene came back in her place. Every record, every shred of information we have on the Hellsing family before August the 27th 2038 bares no mention of one Selene Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Also, there are no unconfirmed birth records dated for the years 2025-2026 that I could not successfully relate to a child and a family. Also, there aren't any other type of medical records belonging to her prior to August the 29th 2038. People may write and forget, or simply forget to write but there has never been one thing I could not find once directed on the correct path. This I could not. But when you think about it, what better way of hiding things you do not which others to discover then by having your pet vampire erase all traces from memory? Then end result of the Knight's meeting on August the 28th 2038 was the enforcement of a new heir to the Hellsing name and thus a nullification of the agreement in front of you. Everyone agreed, no one disputed. Not even the Queen."

"Then let me ask you, by what means have _you_ come upon this path? Why now and not then?"

"Because of April 17th 2046, the night of the Queens annual benefit ball and the attack on her person by yet another complication linked to that House."

"Indeed." Makube agrees shifting in his seat. "I've had Heinkel here keep a very close eye on them ever since the vampire returned and an ever closer one after that night. We could never confirm or deny one fact: has she or has she not given Alucard his freedom? All we were able to was the large amount of blood given to him by _choice_. The runes faded but eventually returned."

"As far as I can tell you she has not. She can not. However, I lack the journal to confirm it."

"What journal?" the word immediately captured the priest's attention.

"The one belonging to Abraham himself. The one in which he recorded the events of Alucard's capture, specifically how he succeeded in binding the creature to his blood. Of course the man probably had hundreds throughout his life but I'm interested in just one. Regrettably, despite being granted full access to Integra's library I could not locate it."

"So you have everything but one?"

"The one that counts. From what I could gather he made a condition that no amount of blood from his bloodline, freely given or not, would break the seals. A fact, I must confess, has intrigued me ever since its discovery."

"Just what are you proposing the?"

"The nullification of the agreement granting refuge to the two vampires currently in her Majesty's service. After the ball Hellsing fell out of grace and little by little I came to discover the truth."

The room fell into utter silence, so quite a pin could equal a canon shot.

"You want to declare war on England?"

"I declare war on the filth infesting her and the traitors ideally standing by. Sir Hellsing has taken matters into her own hands and as such so shall I. She has become a traitor to her country and by the definition of our rather glorious past, we see those traitors burn."

"But why come to us?"

"Because you want them gone as much as I do."

The Iscariot leader laughs finding amusement in the obvious lie he'd been fed. "So sais the, how did you put it, a simple government official? We both know that's a lie. So tell me, is there something more you strive to keep from us? What ties have you the Hellsing name?"

"My ties are merely those given to me by my name. You've had your own people look me up, a fact I am most certain about, so I won't deny it. I am not _directly_ in line for the throne but not far from it either. As such I have no intention of being manipulated by either vampires or their scheming masters behind my back in the near future should the opportunity arise." At that point his tone darkened substantially. "I am nothing like my aunt."

"I can see that. She has always had a more _cautioned_ side."

"Call it what you will it doesn't matter to me. All I require from you at the moment is a small participation in an action I have scheduled for tomorrow. Other than that," he pauses. "I want you to remove Alucard's fledgling from the picture. The incident you had with her 5 years ago, finish it."

"With pleasure." Heinkel spoke up chuckling from behind the bandages covering her face.

"Heinkel." Makube warns in a neutral yet commanding tone not having given her permission just yet.

"I've been waiting for something like Makube. I could finally wipe the smirk off that undead vampire whore's face. My sword missed her once I plan to rectify that mistake."

Silence descended once again over the three as Mokube took a moment to consider his options carefully. He would not make any rash decisions simply out of spite. Otherwise he would end up wasting all those years he'd spent waiting and planning Iscariot's triumph over Hellsing once and for all.

"Tell me more about this document signed upon Integra's death. What exactly does it imply and where exactly do we fit in other than your so called personal assassins? I will not have my people play soldier in your own personal war without proper cause." He warns in a hardened tone, but there is also a hint of both curiosity and a hunger for knowledge hidden between the lines. The proposition so far was indeed enticing.

McCoy merely smirked in return and started uncovering the finer details of the long forgotten contract. When done, more than an hour or so later, the mere expression on Mokube's face held his decision.

"There is one fault that I can find in this quest of yours." His aged, grayish eyes lock on the man's onyx ones. "You want to _make_ a vampire?"

"I do." McCoy replies without delay.

"But your aim is to destroy them?"

"Correct. And what better way to kill a vampire than with a vampire. After all, that is what Integra has been saying all these years, has it not?"

"There are already far too many vampires in that House and I certainly can not sanction the destruction of a soul for your desire for power. This new creature I have mentione for instance…"

"Works both ways." McCoy interrupts him a knowing glance and matching grin. "I have already struck a deal with the vampire in question, not that he'll be keeping for long of course. For you see, he is either true in betraying his allegiance to Alucard and helping us or he is merely playing a game according to the Counts' orders and acts in our favor for the sole purpose of winning said favor. I say why not take the chance? Why not take away their advantage and make it our own?"

"Because **you** cannot make vampires. And second, who would you choose and why would that person be loyal to you and not it's master?

"Because **I** will make Integra give the order herself. Whomever Alucard turns will be bound to him and thus to her just as Seras Victoria was. And to be bound to someone is in no way synonym to being loyal. All we require is a proposition and an offer that cannot be refused."

"And if by chance this plan of yours should fail? What then?"

"I don't plan on succeeding Makube." The brown haired man chuckles whilst reaching into his left side breast pocket for a cigar." That's the beauty of it all. The fledgling's sole purpose is to lead us to her master just as Mina had once done long ago for Abraham. Nothing more and nothing less."

"Her?"

Surprisingly, there was a fourth folder inside McCoy briefcase. And inside it, after he took it out and opened it, was the picture of a woman in her late 20is with shoulder long curly hair as black as a raven's feathers and hazel nut colored eyes.

"Her."

.

.

.

Integra sighed for what seemed to be hundredth time in the last half hour staring up at the plain white ceiling, the horrid plain white ceiling, of the infirmary. Why the hell had she painted it white? She could have at least smudged with some other damned color. It was so plain it was making her sick from merely staring at it. The hour had barely passed mid day, perhaps half an hour since she woke, and yet it seemed so much longer.

"So white, is it not?"

Walter's soft tone breaks the silence and her deep concentration upon the nearly invisible cracks grazing the ceiling like scratches. As her head turned towards the sound she was him leaning against the windowsill with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his right ankle over the left. The black color of his short hair shone with the sunlight seeping through the glass. His head was down and his bangs hid his eyes from sight.

"I don't know what's worse, it or me?" Integra's tone echoes sorrow and misery and her gaze does not falter, not one single mm, from the ceiling. Even the sound of his oncoming footsteps leaves her unaffected. She stares and grimaces as the muscles in her face contract in silent pain at yet another unwanted spasm taking over her womb. She wasn't in labor per say, the doctor had told her so, but it felt incredibly close. The baby was restless inside her womb and kicking against everything it could find; every organ. Of course, being stupid and undoing Alucard's _gracious _attempt to save it had not helped matters, yet who had time to ponder such things now when her liver was currently the baby's punching bag and the only thing able to soothe the tiny monster.

Her teeth clenched at a second stab shortly after.

"Where did you go?" she asks once the pain fades.

"Where Alucard sent me. He has a bad habit of doing things first and explaining himself later."

"Damn it." The knight curses tilting her head into the pillow at a particularly strong kick as well as a cramp.

"Here…" Walter whispers wrapping his arms around her shoulders and helping her up just enough so he could slip in behind her and rest his back against the headboard. He spreads his legs positioning them on either side of her body and removed one of the two pillows to better adjust his new position. Integra in turn grips his upper right thigh arching her back slightly against his chest before finally settling against him in a comfortable position.

"You're still in pain." He sais moving his left arm around her waist and placing his hand over the side of her swollen womb. Her head falls over his shoulder settling in the crook of his neck so that the left side if her face and the rim of her glasses brush the right side of his.

"It hasn't stopped." She replies in a pained whisper. "She's punishing me as I deserve." The kick to her side was felt by both their hands as she placed her left palm over his fingers. The other gripped his thigh harder.

"She's just restless. She'll calm down, just be patient." He counters kissing along the side of her jaw line and caressing her womb with soft gentle strokes. A tiny hand or perhaps a foot reacted to his touch moving almost in sink.

"How can she when I've tried to kill her twice so far? I've placed her second time and time again. Everything Alucard said was true." The once proud knight's voice broke with a tear; then another…

"What do you need me to do?" he asks ever faithful stopping the slow motion of his fingers against her side.

"Beat some sense into me." She tells him gripping his thigh yet again and meaning every word of it. Another strong kick has her grimacing and pulling her legs up a little bit higher towards her chest which rises with a deep inhale before falling from an equal exhale.

"I'll get the doctor."

"What the hell good will that do?" her nails threatened to pierce both cloth and flesh alike and her back arched anew.

"You're in labor."

Integra laughed. It was the only thing she could do though the irony of it tasted horribly bitter in her mouth. Fresh tears fell over her cheeks creating a new path before disappearing into the platinum mass covering her shoulders.

"Not really. The doctor gave me something for the pain. It's not labor, not yet. He'll be back to poke me some more once the medicine takes effect."

The baby hit the front of her womb hard several times without stopping despite her hand leaving Walters' to counter it. "Fuck even the baby knows I'm horrid."

"Stop moving." The teen attempts to calm her, but fails miserably at doing so.

"For Christ's sake Walter!" she shouts screaming her lungs off. She was at the end of her rope and all he could do was be so goddamned calm.

"You don't need a monster." The angel whispers hoarsely in return breathing against the shell of her ear. Though still calm throughout his speech, his tone hid a subtle darkness and a chill when uttering the word 'monster' when referring to himself as a monster. The color of his blue irises darkened as his eyes narrowed slightly beneath his black bangs.

Integra broke down sobbing, turning her body to the right and curling it against his to the best of her ability. There wasn't a single trace of the once proud worrier; just a desperate mother overwhelmed by the situation.

"I'm bleeding." She confesses and the meaning hits him as hard as a rock. Between the tears, sobbing and genuine distress shining in her eyes he didn't know which one weighed more heavily on his heart. "I'm scared."

"You haven't told the doctor." He felt no need to ask such a pointless question. And with her shaking her head as she did against his shoulder he didn't have to. "Why?" he raises his voice for the first time. Why now? And why tell him? For nearly 4 months she kept most of the information about her pregnancy a secret. Everything he learned he had to fish for himself. "You don't even trust me."

A moment passes in sheer agony before she speaks. "I do. But you would have stopped me. You always do."

"Because you're a rash and troublesome child." He sais before thinking things through. He then pauses pondering his next words so that they do not come out in anger. "I made a vow to look after you. From the day you were born to the day I first held you and the day I died. A stubborn and beautiful creature that withholds her reins from any other's touch than her own, much too proud to ask for help."

"Who do you think I have that from?" she smiles in remembrance. "When you stand above all others at such heights it hurt to look up upon you. Hellsing's angel of death."

"I had nothing else."

"Then why did you leave?" she cuts him off grimacing anew. "Why break and trample over my trust and admiration, my pride. Why leave me naked and bare in front of the enemy to sentence you to death? Alucard is a servant by another's choice and Seras merely the servant of my servant. But you, you were…"

"Had I told you, you would have stopped me." He answers using her own words against her. "But life is never easy and never fair. I had my war and I wanted to see it through and done, the vampire and the vampire hunter. But then it all got too complicated and my path lost all its branches until all I had left was that one bare and desolated road, until I could go back no further."

"Why are we such bad parents Walter?"

"I don't know." Though he smiles, he does not mean it. "Maybe we are just monsters."

"I really am bleeding…"

"I'm aware." His hand moves over and around her womb descending beneath the covers over her pajamas. Blood coated tree of his fingers trickling down the digits as he pulled the back. His gaze falls into deep thought at the sight.

"I can't do it." Integra tells him instinctively knowing exactly what kind of thoughts raced through his mind. "I can't take Alucard's blood again."

"I know." He sais sighing before wiping his hand against the sheet and cupping her left cheek with it as she buries her head deeply into the crook of his neck. "He's told me. You do such stupid things."

"At least then someone will protect her in our place."

"It isn't his task to complete. Nor should it have been a decision for you to make."

"And if you disappear again? What will I have then?"

"I had to."

"And I had to sign your death. I had to trample over my pride even more than when you dared me to do it without as much as blinking. You broke my heart."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't leave me." She confesses turning her head upward towards the underside of his jaw, lips brushing against his skin and his Adam's apple. _I love you..._

"I know." He swallows hard in understanding. "And I'll take care of it."

The promise was solid and made even more so by his right hand finding her entwining their fingers together. For a moment his thoughts spread out anew searching for the path he needed to take.

"I'll take care of everything."

And , unfortunately, the vampire was the first and only thought that came to mind. He would need to speak with Alucard.

.

.

.

The dark, vast and empty hallways of the underground maze carved beneath the imposing Victorian manor were eerily silent, cold and lifeless. After returning to his chambers with the upcoming sunrise Alucard had spent a good part of the morning sitting in his chair bathe in utter darkness and cold grey mist up to his ankles. His legs were crossed, the right over the left, while his right arm remained draped over his lap and the left was bent at the elbow and resting on top of the armrest with the palm cradling his left cheek. He had his eyes closed and his previously short hair had slowly lengthened as time passed him by slowly since the sun had risen until the strands were all long enough to pass mid thigh should he choose to stand.

After a while the red of his magma colored irises shone brightly in contrast to the darkness of the room as heavy lashes rose slowly as if waking from a dream. The faint glow of only two rectangular shaped lights situated on both walls on either side of his chair sprang into life shortly after and cast sufficient light as not to have the entire room bathe in darkness any longer. Alucard raises his right hand summoning the same black leather bound book he'd taken back from Integra. He'd grown tired of sleeping...

**_Diary of Abraham van Hellsing_**

The bold lettering spelled out in faded golden color against the black leather binding the booklet.

There was more, so much more looked within those old, yellowed pages than the mere tales of an old man who'd captured a vampire. True, that part held the most value, but other entries in the life of one Abraham van Hellsing also proved to be of some worth. And of course, in the course of long years spent in servitude, he'd spent a good amount of time reading and rereading the elegant handwriting and fading ink phrases. It was perhaps out of boredom, self loathing, perhaps even simple curiosity that had the Count do it so many times over. It wasn't even a complete journal, more like a summary of those moments Hellsing had though of as most relevant above all others since his capture of the vampire. He'd had others far more detailed journals with some parts quite unpleasant to read even in his opinion. However, Alucard had taken care of them long ago as soon at the first opportunity.

_1888, June 12 _

_There is no point towards civil conversation with the vampire. He remains mute and silent in regards to any subject I attempt to use in our 'conversations'. At most he would most insult me as a lowly human unworthy, but sometimes I would succeed in acquiring 'proper' answer from the creature. It is strange to think, but he has never once referred to me again as Sir since that day. A quite peculiar notion cons…_

Alucard stopped reading choosing to skip a few pages ahead. 'Sir' indeed, however, the notion did bring a subtle melancholic smile to his pale lips.

_1888, June 24_

_A truly great day had blessed my meager existence; I have procured a new vampire. On a different note I am quite eager to finally see her and put my latest research notes to the test. The possibilities are truly endless especially if she were to prove as 'interesting' as the Count._

_Dawn is approaching, best not let such beauty and opportunity slip from grasp. _

The smile disappeared from his lips. His crimson eyes stared almost blankly at the aged yellow page and the large blot of ink smeared in the right side corner near the bottom of the page were the day's entry came to a close. His thoughts drifted to…

_Flashback _

_A woman's screams bellowed loudly and echoed in the wide, barren space of the underground prison. The sleeping vampire stirred awake, his crimson eyes drifting open in the utter darkness round him. A groan passed his lips as his limb body, tired and sore, stirred awake in the damp darkness, sheer cold and emptiness of the retched cell holding him captive. He moved within the confinement of the blood darkened chains holding him prisoner for as much as they would grant him freedom. His head was bent as his long ebony hair hid most of his pale features except the twin blazing orbs which easily stood out. The tips continued to touch the stone floor until he completely straightened his posture and most of the pain felt from moving faded into nothingness. For exactly how many days he had slept remained unknown. One thing though, was certain: the shouting persisted. No, it intensified the further his body regained full use of all his senses. His lips curled back in a wicked smile. It would seem he would soon be having company. And by the sound of it she was a feisty one._

"_Let go of me!" Her voice clearly rang just outside his door; a scream trailed by something broken and a man's pain filled screech. _

_/Yes, quite feisty./ Alucard concluded retreating into the darkest corner of the room. Soon after the door burst open and a body was less than gently shoved inside rolling down the flight of stairs. Two men came in after with a third remaining in the doorway clutching his broken left arm and breathing heavily. The door remained open casting light in the darkened room though most of it remained hidden in the shadows. The first one, closest to her, grabbed her by her long auburn hair only to shove her back down again._

"_Vampire filth! We'll see just how long you last." He spat out mockingly before kicking her in her lower back where she was already injured. The other joined in as well showing little mercy for the obviously very young vampire. Alucard continued to stay hidden in the shadows contempt to simply watch for the time being, but all changed when his caught a glimpse of the female's face. _

_The ordeal lasted several minutes more before coming to a halt. The same man as before grabbed the front of her marred dress bringing her up. The second moved behind her. "Then again, trash like you could seem useful for other things as well. Beating you shouldn't be the only pleasure we get out of a whore like you."_

_The held her down ripping at her already tattered clothing while paying no heed to either the struggling or pleading. She was starving, beaten and forcefully kept away from the three day journey she had endured. She had been betrayed. _

"_N…no! Stop it!" She shouted crying tears of blood and fending them off to the best of her weakened abilities. Her terror increased as more and more cold air came in direct contact with her skin and one of the men began undoing his pants. She screamed again gathering all her remaining strength to free one leg as the grip upon it weakened. Success permitted her a triumphant strike which broke his nose spilling his blood. The pain freed her from her torment, but didn't pardon her from yet another savage beating. _

"_Miserable whore!" He threw her on the stone ground ready to bash her skull in. "I'll see you ne…." The rest of his words remained unspoken due to the fear inducing chuckle echoing all around them. The rattling of chains came next, their owner more than pleased by the reaction he got. So they hadn't forgotten him._

"_One would think Van Hellsing taught you better than to enter a vampire's den alone." The depth of his voice and mischievousness of his tone all sounded somewhat amused at the mortal's evident stupidity. Alucard took one single step forward partially revealing his frame form within the darkness. Part of his left cheek, dirtied shirt and shackled left wrist came into view while the rest remained hidden in the shadows. His one narrowed auburn iris shone with glee at the sudden spike in fear and adrenalin. His fangs flashed for but an instant. _

"_He…help me…" The girl implored, hushed yet lowed enough to hear, as soon as her mind perceived the fact that another person found itself there and the shock of his words died out. There was no mistaking the deep baritone voice. "…please help me mas…"_

"_Quite!" The brown haired man holding her down yelled. He whipped the blood from his face then straightened his pants and got up. _

"_Leave the girl alone she's but a child." The way in which he spoke was calmly. He took several steps to the right despite there not being much room for him to do so due to the limitation imposed by the heavy chains holding him captive._

"_Why? Because you say so?" He questioned turning from the girl. She in turn wasted no time whatsoever in rising to her feet and running over to the elder of her kind. She fell at his feet groaning in pain wrapping her arms around his bare shackled ankles._

_Alucard spared a glance in her direction before moving it back up. His grin widened so much it made both men step back in fear. "Because…" It was the voice of death itself. They did not need to see the chains break or move to know death was upon them. Laughter filled the soon to be lifeless cell and the door closed swiftly and violently before third man standing next to it even had the slightest opportunity to move an inch. It squished him crushing his chest as the heavy metal body closed pinning him to the doorframe. His blood splattered an all of the nearby surfaces. _

_The brown haired man would be last, his friend first. He could do nothing but watch his head be torn straight off and its contents drank, still fresh and still warm, directly from the severed body part. The vampire held it above himself; right arm held up high and head leaned back as the liquid coated his tongue and the inside of his throat gulp after sweet sinful gulp. The rest of the man's body fell drained and lifeless to the floor without even being touched by the vampire. He never moved an inch from where he stood. "You're nothing but food."_

_Whatever happened next would forever remain between the hunter and his prey. The girl blacked out and the smell of blood soon faded into nothingness. _

_When she woke, sometime later, there was only darkness around her. The men were gone and the pain in her limbs surprisingly also. The cold remained regardless, somehow more intense across her back. Her eyes suddenly opened completely as she tried to move away but strong, lean arms kept her grounded and in place._

"_Be still." The rough voice spoke demanding obedience before continuing with the task at hand. His long tongue went back to cleaning cuts over her back. Strands of ebony hair were sprawled all over her right shoulder as the vampire fed of her spilled blood, her still virginal blood. Finally, after so long, the tasted of blood in his mouth wasn't his own. _

_Alucard eventually pulled back easing his grip on her forearms and resetting her dress at the same time. She scurried away putting a little bit of space in between before turning around, eyes shining in the dark. Her actions amused the old vampire making him chuckle though only for a moment. "Foolish Childe." He spoke whispering sadness with each word. It was all he needed to say. The female vampire's head lowered causing her beautiful auburn curls to hide the shame her face depicted. The utter silence, cold and darkness around them only made things worse. Her master had made but one request of her and she had failed miserably. _

_Chain links rattled as the vampire sat back down in his lonely corner bringing his left leg up to his chest and placing his left arm on top of his left knee. His features remained calm_

"_Who are you?" Her voice came as a welcomed long forgotten whisper carried by the wind. She was smiling and, oddly, remising of an old event beneath a beautifully clear night sky and full moon. The question too was old, one she had asked of him before. _

_The vampire continued to sit in silence even after her question had been asked as if he was pondering the correct answer. Then, a light smirk prequels his reply. _

"_No one of importance."_

_Flashback end_

Lucy…

The poor misguided child torn between the many decisions of life. She had been such a sweet and innocent creature, a taunting beauty which took pleasure in playing simple yet effective games with all those around her; a child in many ways.

Recalling it now, she was no older than Seras had been the night he turned her, both sharing beautiful azure eyes, pools broken pieces from the sky itself, and gold colored hair. The truth however, consisted of fiery curls shining brightly like a newborn flame with each sunrise and sunset. Dyeing her hair was just part of the game, a wing even easier, and Lucy _loved_ to play. Day or night, she could make anyone move according to the invisible string she weaved beneath the banner of innocence yet manipulated with the skill and grace of an accomplished puppeteer.

The vampire's lip curled into a smirk at the fond memory. Few fledgling had the potential of being great and even fewer achieved it. She had been one of them.

And yet it seemed it was always a cruel twist of fate that deemed his separation from those fledglings before that step to be taken.

_1888, June 27_

_The tests have proven rather disappointing as a start. Her Skin swells, reddens and burns so easily at the faintest touch of light; nothing like the Count's. It is most displeasing. I have made him suffer it for days without as much as a blemish, blister or scar. What could be the difference so great that it alters results with such intensity? Both undead, yet the female of the species seems weaker. Does the answer then lay perhaps in gender? Or age? I must know without failure._

_I have considered this time and time, over and over…perhaps the fault is not mine but in the tests themselves. New subjects are required, a new final test one closer to heart; this will prove or disprove my theory beyond reasonable doubt._

In the corner, at the very end of the page lay a small depiction and a rather crude drawing of a stake. Ah yes, the stake, so many _fond_ memories of that particular torture device; closer to heart indeed. Of course the man hadn't been foolish enough to test it out directly on _his_ vampire, no. Instead he had men drained and turned; some of those never to be missed from the backstreets of London's more poor districts and later use these as more 'replaceable' subjects.

On a personal note, the ancient vampire had felt its sting several times against his own flesh never quite in the heart but close enough none the less. Heavy chains would hold him down strapped to a metal table already thoroughly soaked in his blood so that even it's original black color differed from it normally should have been had it not been for the excess crimson liquid staining it. Ironically, to this day, he knew exactly where that table and the stake were hidden within the lowest chambers of the vast dark dungeon. A thin layer of black coagulated blood still stained the stake's tip to this day in an almost taunting fashion. Both objects were the remains of a horribly painful period lost to the passage of time but also an important testimony to his arrogance, mistakes and weaknesses. His sole comfort was that within demise lay the bed for victory and the undeniable proof of his triumph over the old fool.

Placing the drawn image of the stake behind him, Alucard skipped a few pages more.

_1888, September 8 _

_Refusal to eat. To begin with, I had intended only to see for myself the effects of starvation on a vampire. Since he has stopped all manor of communication with it he I had hoped this as enough incentive to perhaps obtain a sentence. Nothing…_

_The test is still running and the Count has proven a quite fascinating subject as I have successfully kept him off the vial crimson substance for over a month now. Would a vampire have limited amounts of nourishment required to survive or are they trapped in an endless vicious circle of blood and death? Perhaps several months more would provide adequate answers. Perhaps I should include extending my research towards Lucy as well. Fate has brought the child back to me for a reason. Of course I will not be able to share such joyous new with poor Mina who is coming today for a visit. The creature has stripped her of a sister; I will not do the same. For her sake and that of the child she carries, Lucy shall remain dead._

_1889, May 10_

_Mina has returned today, her son Quincy alongside. I must admit feeling content at seeing the small smile once again in the aftermath of his father's sudden death. To this day I have yet to comprehend the exact turn of events surrounding Jonathan's demise. He showed no signs of illness and left my house a healthy man before tuning up dead just hours later. There was blood all over the room and his body…perhaps it would be wise not to include such morbid aspects of that eventful morning. None of us had expected it and yet, whilst taking blood to the vampire, a rather odd if not unsettling occurrence took place and I have yet to make sense of. The Counts was laughing…laughing with more pleasure and satisfaction than I have ever witnessed. The way his eyes stared back at me held something truly frightening and not of this world._

_He knew…and I could neither say nor do anything. That gaze, that unholly gaze held me trapped like never before. Somehow he knew…. _

_I cannot feel a certain uneasiness regarding the subject. Just what did he know?_

_1889, July 9 _

_I fear Lucy shall die of my desire for knowledge. I can see the effects written all over her body, spreading like few illnesses I have bore witness too in humans. It is truly fascinating. There is no ash or blood as one would normally expect in a beheading or a staking of a vampire. She is raked with fever and her skin actually burns to the touch, fascinating._

_Each night she calls for her master and each night her call remains unanswered. I wonder if he waiting for her to die? _

His Lucy was dying. Van Hellsing had pushed her beyond her limits leaving her with perhaps day to live at that point, if not less. As such he had found a way, he had found something far more interesting to _occupy_ the man's ravenous interest in vampire abilities: Baskerville. The hound had sparked a sudden need for knowledge, one far more fascinating than the vampire's prolonged refusal to eat or speak or Lucy's slow and agonizing death. Plus it would provide his fledgling enough time to heal and _run_. And he saw her run. As her master he set his Childe free.

_July 11_

_Lucy is dead. _

The entry held no more.

Alucard closes the journal leaning back into his throne like chair with a low sigh and shutting his eyes for a moment. He did not need to read further. The greatest irony of life was that neither the living nor the dead had any true peace until truly _dead_. How strange, to have death the sole path to freedom. Reopening his eyes he turns the journal around in his hands in order to examine the sturdy spine cover and runs a gloved finger over its length before pushing down over the middle and opening the hidden compartment: a locket falls into his right palm from within.

The golden chain was unevenly broken and the center piece, a beautiful Victorian style white cameo on a black onyx bed, had a long diagonal crack running along its length like a hairline fracture on a bone. Fortunately the two pieces were still kept in perfect place due to the high quality craftsmanship used to make the exquisite piece of jewelry.

_"I've seen your eyes linger upon it." The Count's deep voice resonated as one with the night surrounding him and his lady. "My gift to you until we meet again fair Mina." _

Darkness had brought them together, Wilhelmina Murray. Whereas Lucy openly displayed her more mischievous nature, Mina did the exact opposite. Her eyes held the truth about her hidden nature deep within the pools of her seemingly innocent irises and it drew him like a mouth to a flame. She too had the potential for greatness, perhaps even more than Lucy at the time, but there wouldn't have been any true loyalty on her behalf. He knew that now. There was far too much pride and desire for power for her to submit to anyone but herself. And that had indeed been a rather humiliating experience. He had played the game, but she had proved herself better. She schemed and successfully manipulated everyone around her, himself included. And for that alone he still held respect for her. The world was pillared by the strength and determination of those refusing to give up and surrender their principals. And in the end…she'd given many other reasons for his anger towards her.

A second heavier sigh filled the room as he curled his long fingers around the black and white cameo. Why had he still kept it?

His thoughts drifted away from his former lover and found something else amongst the darkness lurking inside his mind. His grip tightened.

_"I'm sorry….Master I'm sorry!"_

Seras's voice filled the void and, as soon as it came, his hand crushed the cameo without a second though before throwing it across the room to his right; it hit the wall rather violently effectively shattering.

/Stupid fool. /He cursed himself for ever keeping the damned thing. Even now he still klinged to it for some unknown reason he himself could not fully grasp. There it was, after all the years passed, he knew exactly where to find it.

_"I'm sorry…"_

For a very long time that sentence and the pain in his child's voice had haunted his already restless sleep. It had been just a few months since the disastrous incident with Iscariot's new ace: Heinkel Wolfe. Like her mentor before her she became their new trump card in the war against Hellsing's new pet monster. The scar on Seras's chest remained as an ever present reminder, but as time passed more and more of the old Seras resurfaced replacing the utterly lost and vulnerable fledgling; replacing the sheer need of him she held so dearly and dwindling the new found affection awoken inside her as a _lover_. Each passing day brought them further and further apart. Touch became scarce and intimacy even more so. She would stare at him openly with large innocent doe eyes, large sky blue eyes as if the vampire inside had temporarily been placed in a deep slumber, her gaze lost and confused and him powerless to stop it.

In the end all he had been able to do was let her go. Let her forget, watch the crimson return drowning her irises in a pool of fresh blood and detach himself from the peace she had unknowingly brought in that one touch. And in one mistake, one dreadful and unforeseen mistake, he accelerated that very process faster than her could have ever imagined.

Flashback

_"Master be reasonable." Seras attempted a touch of diplomacy while reaching with her right hand for the piece of jewelry in question. A hint of confusion and fear lingered in her sentence at the look her master was giving her. She never expected to be silenced the way she did: on the cold floor with a slap to the right cheek. _

_"Don't you dare disobey me! You will never wear it again or I will destroy you." _

_The young draculina stared at her master in disbelieve with her cheek red, swollen and throbbing from the force of the blow. She was far to stunned to say anything which in turn served to infuriate the elder more. His eyes held unimaginable rage within in them and she couldn't understand why?_

_He moved and she found herself back on her feet with her back slammed into one of the walls of his room and the fabric of her dress ripped to pieces. The green skirt went first as a swift and precise pull tor the stitches all the way. The long piece of material glided down to the floor as his fingers released it and instead went for the high collar of her top. Simultaneously two black tendrils took hold of wrist binding them together over her head as two thinner ones cut through the sleeves like paper. Before long she was left in nothing but the inner black corset, black thigh-high silk stockings with a lace welt at the end, black lace undergarments and small dark black boots. _

_"Ma…"_

_"Be silent!" Alucard roared while taking hold of the long golden chain of the pendant with his free right hand almost strangling her from the force he used. The metal dug into the skin of her neck and the back of his knuckles presses against her clavicles and Adam's apple. His other hand grabbed hold of the rim of the corset right over the middle of her chest. His first thought was to rip it just like the rest of the emerald dress but then he paused for about a second and instead had it cut with one of his black tendrils just like the sleeves. _

_"Master…." Seras pleaded with him attempting to break free but the vampire slammed her yet again into the structure of the wall, this time even stronger than the first, knocking the air out of her lungs. It took a good moment for her vision, though blurred, to return and for her body to register the impact but also for the vampire to act. She came out of it just in time to hear the sound of the corset being ripped echo around her and fell the upper part of her body exposed to the coldness of the dungeon's atmosphere. _

_She was still pinned to the wall with her arms firmly held above her head and her attire in ruins and anything but innocent. The paleness of her flawless skin shone more brightly in contrast to the dark color of the flimsy pieces of fabric she had on. The corset had joined the ruined skirt pooling around her ankles and left in his place a thin, formfitting, pale green undershirt that clung to her curses like a second skin and ended a little over her bellybutton. It too bared a cut in the middle, a cut formed the moment the tendril in question acted like a knife following the path set by his hand. The corset had been cut through but the undershirt barely halfway as if to provide the young woman some sort of dignity. Nevertheless, the gap in the fragile piece of fabric ended about an inch under her chest which, along with the position of her arms, accentuated the swell of her breasts even more that usual: the very middle of her torso as well as the inner quarter of her breasts were left out in the open, completely exposed and at the mercy of his currently frightening gaze. Now more than ever, the perfect hourglass shape of her body was displayed for all to see from the fullness of her chest to the small dip of her waist and sensual curved form of her hips ending with two long and slender legs that seemed to go on for miles just begging to be touched._

_The tug on the thug golden chain increased and Seras found herself forced to meet her master's gaze. The two were so close their faces and noses all but touched. Yet as thrilling as that intense and erotic moment could have been, the sheer furry radiating from the man's beautiful crimson irises ruined it all frightening her to such intent she could feel it deep inside her bones. There was nothing there except bitterness and anger over something she truly could not understand in the least. It was just a dress and a mere locket, something she had found discarded I one of the unused rooms of the manor's third floor. Integra had gladly given them to her. _

_The chain draws blood cutting into the flesh of her neck._

_"You will never wear this again." His tone was fierce, harsh, demanding and all consuming against her skin and full round lips; by the feel of it alone it issued a meaningful threat not to be taken lightly. Alucard then jerked his hand pulling yet again as if to wake her. He was not satisfied with the lack of a proper answer. "Do you understand?" the crimson of his orbs scorched her flesh as fire would a heretic tied to a stake and chills of pure terror consume her fragile form as he decreased the remaining distance between them more molding his rigit body against her softer one. The draculina did not dare move neither arms nor legs much less turn her gaze away from the inner demon he'd become in the blink of an eye. Instead she faced him head on and succeeded in replying. _

_"Yes…" she could barely speak._

_"Again!" he demanded. There would definitely be an deep cut on the back of her neck and a large bruise around her wrist by the time he was satisfied._

_"I…I understand master. I will…" Blood ran down the corners of her eyes._

_"You will not __**what**__?" he growled that final word baring his fangs like a true monster taking her breath away. He'd never been this savage before. He held her so firmly it was as almost as if he were touching her in an almost intimate and erotic manner; a master vampire dominating his fledgling and a body language that seemed to want to change from controlling to taking. Alucard controlled her with a passion never before displayed while blond vampire found herself in a the strange position of longing, of wanting to know what could possible happen next despite the utter terror rolling off her in waves. The closer he got, the deeper she gazed into his frightening eyes and saw another emotion swell within them: pain, deep heart shattering pain. He was hurting but it was so deeply buried beneath layer upon layer of anger that it was barely strong enough to survive. _

_Seras's breathing hitched as he started getting closer and closer, his mouth moving in as though he were about to kiss her. The darkness in his eyes grew and his eyes turned a very dark red. A whimper threatened to leave her throat as he swllowed her breath and her lips began to mimic his and…_

_"Alucard!" Integra's voice shattered through the moment like a brick through glass seconds. She had been halfway down the staircase leading into the vampire's room when the sight of the two vampires had stopped her in her tracks. Alucard was pinning his half naked fledgling to the wall with her clothes ripped from her flesh and thoroughly scattered all around her as her chest all but spilled out off her undershirt while he hovered like a predator waiting to devour her at any moment. "What the hell are you doing?" her older though powerful tone demanded as she wasted little time in approaching the two. _

_"Stay where you are." Alucard demands not taking his eyes off the blond draculina. "The Police girl and I have unfinished business to attend." Whatever change had appeared in his eyes disappeared in the blink of a second turning them once more cold, bitter and angry. Unfortunately, the situation was not something the old knight was willing to walk away from and simply let happen. Good God she'd nearly felt her old heart stop beating when she descended down the flight of black stairs and saw the manner in which Alucard was treating the most loyal of all creations ever to serve him. All that was missing from the picture were his pants of the floor and blood running down the girls thighs._

_"Get away fro her Alucard that's an order!" she shouted causing the ancient runes over the back of his hands to glow brightly. _

_Sadly, he paid them little head and continued to focus his entire attention on his whimpering child. "Answer me!"_

_"Alucard!" Integra moved in closer._

_"Tell me!"_

_"Alucard release her!" _

_"You will tell me now!" he growled in her face and the sound of its vibrations resonated inside his chest and thus against hers as well. Seras shut eyes in fear as she could no longer bare him witness._

_"Servant I order you to let her go and step away! Now Alucard! Move that's the last time I'm saying it!"_

_There was no lenience to be held within the knight's voice as she asserted her control over the vampire and took hold of his right forearm. The contact, though harmless in itself, fueled the power of the imprisoning seals and caused tremendous pain to shoot through the vampire's limbs forcing him to obey. _

_"Let her go!"_

_"I'm sorry!" Seras shouts startling both master and servant with its intensity. A fresh wave of crimson pearls falls down her cheeks and the chain of the pendant snaps in half behind her neck fractions of a second before the binding runes enforced the knight's will upon the vampire setting her free of his hold. The two golden pieces of string then dangled form Alucard's closed fist as his arm drops next to his side. "I won't do it again master, I'm sorry! I won't wear it again. I'm sorry, I'm…I…I..."_

_She sobs violently unable to hold back her fear and tears any longer; her blue eyes turn red without warning and her body passes though the wall instinctively remembering how just to escape._

_The back of Alucard's white gloves turned red with his blood from the touch of the seals upon his bare flesh and his knuckles dripped drop after drop onto the stone floor next to his black boots. The glow finally retreated and his fist unclenched letting the cameo pendant to drop and land over the three small droplets which had fallen earlier. It was over, it was all over and he'd gotten what he so desperately had desired but…_

_A sharp and sudden pain and even harsher words echoed in the room seconds after._

_"How dare you? If you ever much as go near her again I'll see it as the last thing you ever do!" Alucard's head had been jerked to the left from the impact of the slap to his right cheek. "How dare you?" she shouted in pure indignation._

_"Get out." He replied far too calmly. _

_"You will stay away from her until I allow it!" The runes started to glow once more as a new order was on the verge of being born. "You will neither speak nor interact with her in any way until further notice!"_

_"You gave her…" he began but was brutally cut off._

_"You are confined to your fucking chambers __**Servant**__! And you are ordered to __**never**__ touch her again!"_

_The order was clear and the command embedded within the runes. Finishing, Integra took a moment to steady her breath before making a move to turn and leave the vampire to his punishment. _

_"You gave her this filth." Was all he said, not a word regarding the order. "You gave her this!" his right foot rose and stomped the cameo shattering it into tiny pieces. The calmness left his hoarse baritone voice and only resent filled it now. "Of all the things you cloud have found and given this had to be it! __**This!**__ And yet you dare come here and act the way you did. Do you think me a fool? Do you think me such a man that I am without honor?"_

_"Did you look at her?" Integra inquired without having to utter the whole sentence; it was self implied as Alucard's eyes unwillingly offered her the answer the very moment he turned to no longer face her icy stare._

_"No, no you did not Count." She continued filled with such contempt for what she'd bore witness. "Where's the honor in that?"_

_"This is not my doing master. It was yours."_

_"Really?" she countered forcing him to look back into her face. Her right hand once again grabbed his forearm twisting his body in its former position before her. "Then why are you the one lacking basic control? Requesting would have gotten you your worthless sorry. She didn't know."_

_"You gave it to her!" he would not let the subject drop regardless. _

_"I gave her a trinket long before my time that she happened to like. And if that box near the attic had bothered you so much it would not still be there after all this time."_

_There was little the vampire could say in return as every word spoke was the truth however displeasing it might have been. He'd had all the time in the world to remove unwanted memories from his presence and yet he hadn't. The fault was his and no one else's. _

_"Look at what you've done. How much more are you willing to break her? How much longer can you stand hurting her the way you do?" _

_That said the knight turned leaving the vampire to wallow in self pity. She would not be revoking her order any time soon that much was for sure. The iron door slammed behind her allowing some her own anger to escape. And in her wake the words 'You are a fool' echoed even louder._

Flashback end

And still the piece of jewelry had survived. Integra had eventually recovered it from the vampire's chambers and returned it amongst the memoirs of his former life, but he had found it a different home and still held onto it. Perhaps, somewhere deep down amongst the madness ravaging his mind, he welcomed the anguish and despair it brought him.

With the bond broken they were master and servant once again. _Master_, cold and sterile. A title without a hint of emotion behind it. Seras barely returned to her room that night before she fell unconscious. And when she woke sometime later she remembered nothing: nothing of the year lost to Iscariot's weapon and her almost dying, nothing of the mission they had been sent on that fateful night and nothing concerning the almost one year relationship she had shared with her master. There wasn't anything other than an empty void lingering inside her eyes whenever he took the time to look deep enough.

And yet, the scent of her blood lingered in his coffin and the taste of her flesh tormented his being urging him to take just one _bite_, to drink his fill and partake in the divinely sinful pleasure her body so beautifully offered. Every chaste touch, every discreet glace from then on made his crimson eyes linger a bit more on her face each time he looked her way. It made him remember, remember she had been his.

The light began to fade behind him letting the room drown in the darkness that matched his heart. His head dropped into his open right palm hiding his face entirely.

Alone in the dark, the journal would continue to amuse him as tragedy often did when he had nothing else. Blood lettering filled the very last page of the journal in a far different handwriting; words added at a much later date.

_The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame._

_Eating my wings to seize the night and curse the light._

_Eating my wings to die alone in the dark._

"Alucard..." Walter's voice breached through the wall of darkness surrounding him.

.

.

.

.

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To be continued...

My next chapters will probably be next week as i've said before. I have a few minor things to alter regarding the plot but it's around 99% finished.

The story in itself is probably 70-80% done, so I still need to come up with the proper ending.

So...that's abotut it for now and although it's been a really long time, I'd still apreciate some feedback on this chapter.

shadow out.


	12. Chapter 12

Here's chapter 8 and quite frankly the longest, single, chapter I have ever written. I did try to break it in half at first but that would have just ruined it.

Also, a small warning concerns this chapter regarding graphic violence befalling the young prince. The story line of this chapter follows chapter 6.

**Chapter 8**

_Seras's back hit the floor as the boy rolled them over after their initial fall and then moved to shield her from the projected debris in the shape of many bits and pieces of sharp glass. Her fragile blue irises fell on the molted lava pools descending upon her without remorse in a sea of darkness over the boy's left shoulder. Her scream filled the upper levels of the castle as a far terrifying one did the same to the dungeon and catacombs below._

_Deep, deep underground within the dark void of the world below the beauty of the ancient structure, the lid of a dark brown coffin was brutally ripped from its hinges and thrown more than halfway across the vast and empty space of the ancient catacombs. A blood covered pale arm reached out._

There was nothing but darkness, darkness and an ear shattering scream…

Seras's bright blue eyes abruptly open to a world of darkness filled sound. The floor was cold beneath her small body and twitching fingers as she turned her head to the right. The pattern on the floor was the only thing she could see. She was stuck unable and to move and yet her ears heard so much. Too much in fact, too many voices and too much noise all jumbled together so that they hardly made any sense at all.

_Oh what have you done now?_

_Things wouldn't be so bad if you would just learn to behave._

_Who are you? _Laughter_. _

_What you'll become should you live long enough to tell._

_Wake up…._

_Come, come see. Mom come see._

The words rang loudest each time they seemed to get closer and closer to the girl.

Blood began emerging from the surrounding darkness and seeped into the cracks between the tiles heading her way. At the same time the voices got louder, angrier and more violent. They no longer made any sense but?

_Save me…_

_No one will even remember your name._

_Please save me._

She was trapped with nowhere to go as the shadows swallowed her up drowning her in rich warm blood.

"Child…child wake up."

The same blue eyes snapped open a second time, dazed, confused and glazed, to the sight of a young woman dressed in nuns clothing by her bedside. "Seras." He voice was like a gentle cool breeze on a warm summer day, both soothing and comforting. "It's alright child, your fever's broken."

Warm green eyes looked her sweaty form over as she replaced the wet cloth over the child's forehead. Now 12 years old her built was larger: thin but strong shoulders, hair short, golden and spiky at the ends had it not been for the sweat clinging it to the back of her neck, blue eyes not as round and big as they had been but just as expressive. The clothes she wore were a simple pair of pajamas sky blue in color consisting of a pair of pants ending at her knees and a short sleeved t-shirt with a round neckline and a large white cloud in the middle.

The girl turned her head locking eyes with the green eyed nun. She was back in her room and for a moment, the voices had stopped.

"There you are." Sister Katherine smiled placing her right hand over Seras's left shoulder in a soothing manner. "Honestly child, the messes you get yourself into." She playfully scolded her before standing up from her chair and setting the small bowl of water on the nightstand next to the bed. At the same time Seras stood up and removed the cloth from her forehead. She was back in her room at the orphanage, on the third floor and all alone in a room meant for two but housing only one for a very long time now. Her throat felt sore and dry and the need to cough overwhelmed her until she was forced to let it all out.

"Now, now, things wouldn't be so bad if you would just learn to behave."

The effect was immediate and Seras's blue eyes widened just as she was about to let her hand drop from her face.

_Things wouldn't be so bad if you would just learn to behave…behave…_

The man's voice along with the malevolent way in which it spoke sent shivers down the child's back.

_What to do? What could we do?_

The new words became the woman's by her side. But the voice was wrong; the voice was ghostly and haunting like a screech in the night. She turned her head to face the black clad woman only to find something else in her place.

"What to do with you?" Katherine's face was no longer her own and, instead of caring green eyes, black holes stared back at her from a decayed greenish face covered in blood and dirt and ripped flesh. Her voice was no longer gentle, it inspired fear and terror and the arm that was now reaching out for her matched the horrid face. The tips of the figure's fingers started to loose their flesh with each inch they got closer until the hand that lunged for her was nothing but bones and blood.

The figure screeched attacking the girl. Fortunately, the adrenalin filling Seras's veins took over her startled mind first and prompted her to move at very last second. She bolted from the bed out of the figure's grasp and ran for the door as fast as her legs could carry her and as fast as her weakened condition allowed. She crashed into the wooden frame pushing it open in the process and stepped outside into what should have been a well lit corridor with wooden floorboards and cream colored wallpaper. Instead, she fell and landed in a dark, damp and poorly lit passage with a low ceiling and stone elements all around.

"Get back here!" the nun shouted after her through the open door. She dashed forward from the bed and towards the door but the latter closed before her skeletal fingers had a chance to pass the threshold. The lock clanged loudly and every bit of light provided by the connection between the two rooms vanished. Deafening silence descended upon the barren corridor and it took a few seconds for Seras's ears to get accustomed to the flicker of the few torches lined alongside the walls surrounding her. They were stationed about a meter in between, a total of four torches of which two down from her position on the right and one on the left on a much smaller portion of wall than the latter two. The wall on the right was parted and shaped into the form of a T like crossroad. More torches lit up the subsequent branches

The splitting headache tormented her further, never settling down and only getting worse. Her ears slowly began adjusting to her new surroundings now that the bang of the shut door had long since faded away and new sounds were taking its place becoming louder and louder: metal rattled as though the rings of various chains were all being moved together by the wind. They accompanied the flicker of the torches as well as the muffled sounds ascending from almost every direction. The air was cold, stale and damp and she struggled to breath due to both her stuffy nose and the unmistakable stench of death lingering around her. Her eyes were still tired and glazed from the fever gripping her, cheeks stained with a rosy hue and her skin felt damp, cold and freezing as the lower temperature served to aggravate her shivering.

After taking a moment to compose herself Seras started to move, her feet bare against the stone floor, and kept her left hand on the wall for support. Seconds later a metal door slammed open somewhere to her right echoing quite loudly and followed by the dulled 'pleas' of what she identified to be a man.

_"_No…please n….no…."two other voices accompanied it silencing his each time he managed to open his mouth and speak. It only took a moment for the young girl to register the rise in tone in all three voices; they were getting closer and coming around one of the right hand corners. Seras took a deep breath feeling a coughing fit coming on and her right hand immediately went to her mouth in an attempt to prevent it. She was caught between the two inevitable events like a piece of metal crushed between an anvil and the hammer hitting it. She used her left hand to push herself off the wall and move driven by the simple basic instinct to flee from an unknown and possibly dangerous situation when a warm arm coiled itself around her middle and pulled her backwards towards the darkness on the left.

Seras gasps and struggles against her captor with whatever little strength she had left but is quickly silenced by a voice and tone all too familiar.

"Stop it's me. Seras it's me." The raven haired boy spoke softly, his voice husky and soothing, breath warm against her right ear as he waited for her to stop struggling against him Eventually she did and her movement became much more calm until she stopped entirely and breathed in deeply through stuffed nose that made her gasp for breath instead and cough. The noise she made wasn't very loud, yet close enough to being picked up by the men approaching their position from the right branch of the corridor's T intersection just a few feet in front of them.

"What was that?" One man asked as they paused from walking, the two taller ones dragging the third behind them almost like a ragdoll behind them. He was chained up with shackles on both his wrists and ankles, emancipated, dirty, with messy hair black in color and wearing ragged clothes.

"Who cares," one of his associate replied with little concern. "Get him moving." They resumed their initial passing.

"Come with me, quickly." Vlad urges Seras to move backwards by applying gentle pressure to her shoulders and waist. "Don't let them hear you." He then pleads as she still struggled to keep her diaphragm under control. He turned her around until her face was intimately pressed into his right shoulder over his clavicle and her coughs muffled by the fabric of his black clothing: the same articles he'd always worn when meeting her as well as a new piece represented by a long black cloak and hood over his head. The sides of the cloak were cut along the sides allowing his arms to move freely without raising the rest of the fabric or parting it in the middle each time he needed to move. Their embrace hardly lasted a moment before he broke it.

"Come." He whispered anew coaxing her along. Thus the two backed away heading down the corridor and increasing the distance between them and the small intersection. Vlad quickly extinguished the small torch as they passed it by using a piece of cloth he threw over it and patted it down with his left hand. Seeing as it was the last torch to lit up that segment the two fell into a world of darkness with just a few moments to spare before the men made their presents known and the shape of their bodies was illuminated by the combined glow of the remaining ones. The left end of the corridor was a dead end, a collapsed section of what had once been a much longer passage and several cells more.

The children moved with care as not to trip or dislodge any loose rocks amongst the ruble they had began to cross.

"Get down." He gestured for her to kneel and would follow her shortly.

"What?" Seras's voice cracked as she spoke, her throat sore and dry. She tried to clear it but was once again stopped by the raven haired boy.

"Shhh…" the weight of his cloak settled over her shoulders along with the hood which covered her unique hair color. He was down by her side, black clothes and hair helping him blend in much easier with his surroundings even in the absence of the protective cloak he'd discarded in her favor. His head stood a little above hers; the top of her head bumped into his chin and his hands grabbed her upper arms urging her to relinquish moving. "Please." His voice maintained the soft and low tone he'd used before as the left corner of his mouth brushed against her forehead and bangs. Seras opened her mouth ready to respond when the voice of one of the two men rang first.

"Damn light's gone out again." His gaze was fixed on the very position Vlad and Seras had taken refuge in.

"Then go fix it." The other replied. They were dragging the third by having one of their arms under both of his armpits. The man's shoulders had a very unusual angle as though they had been dislocated out their sockets while his legs appeared to be mostly useless and barely able to sustain his weight.

"So go fix it. I'm not going anywhere near those rats."

The first laughed. "At least their cleaner than the filth we usually deal with."

The two men chuckled and moved on dragging their victim along, voices fading with each step, until the last thing the two children heard was a door opening and closing just as quickly, its hinges rusty and squeaking. Vlad let out a deep breath he'd been holding the entire time. All the tension and all the anxiety flowing through his veins ceased for a brief moment and were thus reduced enough to allow his frantic heart beat to slow down considerably.

"You should not be here." His tone was soft and as low as a whisper. His hands moved to cup her face underneath the hood and raised it so that their eyes met. Her skin was very warm beneath his colder ones. "How are you here?" he questioned out loud struggling to understand the unexpected turn of events. Both uncertainty and fear dominated the features of his young face. However, after only a few seconds more he broke eye contact and turned his head towards the juncture in the corridor where he quickly scanned the surroundings. His voice was starting to mimic his expressions.

"You should not, you should not be here."

His left hand gripped her upper right arm a little harder than in had so far before he let go and instead took her hand in his and simply pulled up on her feet. He was still looking for the source of her unexpected presence, yet had no luck whatsoever in finding it. That in itself put him back on the edge.

"Come with me." He begins to pull Seras behind him and so the two leave the safety of the darkness and step back into the light cast by the closest lit torch. They were almost at the juncture when low pitched screams began filling the hall to their left.

"Wait." Seras whispered, her throat sore and her voice hoarse, but her friend didn't seem to listen. His grip on her hand was strong but with a distinct tremble as though something bad was about to happen as he dragged her along the cold stone floor. The sudden scream unsettles her causing her to flinch and involuntarily gasp a little too loud. Vlad reacted immediately by turning around and cupping the left side of her face as to bring it up. Now, in the light and with the hood pushed back from the movement of his hand, her most distinctive features stood out: the paleness of her skin as well as the flush and heat of her cheeks became far more visible. Unfortunately, so did his own. Seras looked up at the boy about a head taller than her despite herself having grown whose wild shoulder long raven hair framed his face and his bangs partially hid a large bruise, still in the process of healing, over his right cheekbone and a small part of his temple.

"Be quite, please be quite." He sais tearing his gaze from her yet again while ignoring the questioning look within her eyes and refocusing his sight on the path leading to the fable door. Their route was a dead end and the left branch was out of the question. That in turn meat they could go only one way, towards the right from where the men came, yet that too had its risks.

"But I…"

Seras stopped feeling a sneeze coming on. Her shoulders tensed in preparation and she scrunched her nose unable to stop it. The cold air had finally gotten to her and in her weakened state it only served to enhance her symptoms. Regrettably, it was also the worst possible moment as, at the same moment, the rusty hinges cried out and the door Vlad had been watching from afar slid open. Four fingers were curled around the edge of metal frame encasing the wooden middle and although it should have been his first and foremost concern, it took second place when placed on the same pedestal as the blond girl. Vlad embraced her and buried her face into his chest and the black fabric of his shirt. His arms wrapped themselves around her with the left around her middle and the other around her head. The hood fell of completely exposing her golden locks. Seras's body shook and trembled caught in the repetitive fit forcing her to hold her each and every sneeze while his did the best it could to keep the sound of her voice as low as possible.

Meanwhile the door opened wider and the hand came out completely. Vlad and Seras's bodies remained hidden from sight due to the portion of wall covering his back and the light of the torch positioned directly opposite of their position which cast their joined shadow in front of them and so away form prying eyes. Still, two things held both their fates dangling precariously over the edge of an abyss: the coughing fit induced by the sneeze and one of the two men stepping out with his back turned to them. There were cries coming from the accursed room along with muffled coughs from the hall and sharp intakes of breath all one after another.

"Keep him quite will you." He told the other as he took another step backwards ready to turn and face the hall. Although there was no one there to see it, the gap created by the agar door and the glow of the nearby torch partially shed some light on the inside of the mysterious chamber. Rusty chains hung loosely from beams not far from the door, a small table lay nearby with one end of what appeared to be a rack close to the latter. Only a small portion was visible: the wheel and handle, the rope and two bleeding wrists. "And alive." He continued after seeing his partner tighten the rope even more. "We haven't been given permission to kill him _yet_."

"Who says this will?"

The man cried yet again as his ligaments were being stretched to the limit and his shoulders were just about to cave in first.

"I mean it, don't." The first raised his voice in a commanding tone. Afterwards he turned fully ignoring the other's low curse and started walking.

Seras coughed unable to hold it in any longer like the last time. The first time was like a squeak successfully covered by the man speaking and demanding his colleague kept their victim alive, but the second echoed loud enough to be picked up. The interval between them was short and marked by a deep intake of breath on her part as she grasped his shirt for dear life and the soft plea he offered in return.

"Please..."

She coughed none the less and alerted the man of someone's presence besides his own. He had a few feet more, less than half the distance between the torture chamber and the t-shaped intersection.

"Who's there?" he demanded stopping for a second then quickening his pace as he got no answer in return. Seras still coughed and nothing, not even the deep breaths she took, seemed to help her calm down. Her chest hurt from the effort as she struggled to overcome the pinnacle of the seizure. Vlad's grip on her tightened and he moved them back a step. Still, it was a failed attempt as there wouldn't be any time left to securely hide yet again. Sheer luck alone save them as a second pair of voices distracted the jailer in the nick of time. They came from the other end of the long corridor along with moving shadows dancing over the surface of the walls. A tall man, around 6 feet, was thrown to the floor immediately after coming around the corner and a few steps before the five stairs that led to the beginning of the hall. His hands were chained up together and, as he pushed himself back on his knees, a new jailer followed him cursing as he went. He was a bit younger than the previous two and had a light brown hair that being the only major difference between them. All of them were just as cruel.

"Move it! You'll be joining your friend soon enough." He grabbed the fallen man by the back of his dirty shirt and dragged him towards the stairs as the latter was unable to get proper footing and was pushed forward without a second thought. His fall was hard and knocked the air straight out of his lungs for a moment causing him to struggle to breath. Blood left his lips as he coughed, the fall having knocked a loose tooth from his gum and he spat it. He didn't move afterwards.

"Come help me. This one's been sentenced to death."

The first man was finally distracted and gave up his attempt to uncover what had made those sounds. It was quite possible for it to have been an echo from the man currently lying before his feet.

"He won't talk?" the other man asked his own question while casting his gaze down and fixing it over the ripped and ruined shirt covering the prisoner's back.

"Who cares? I just do as I'm told." the brown haired man replied while walking down the stairs. Reaching the man he kicked him the stomach then grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled his head up. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes," the prisoner smirked. "That's right!" the man moved his bound hands beneath his shirt and pulled out a hidden knife which he then embedded into the jailor's left calf. Afterwards he wasted little time in pushing himself onto his knees and raising his arms above his head so that, when the jailor bent down in pain, he could easily drape the thick metal chain holding his hands together around the latter's throat and throw him over his shoulder. A hard tug and a twist later and one more life was lost to the bloody legacy of the accursed dark prison. He died instantly having his neck snapped with ease and with no mercy.

Everything happed incredibly fast afterwards. Hell broke loose. The jailor ran forward shouting, the prisoner got up pulling the bloody knife from the deceased's body, Vlad spoke and Seras could finally breathe again.

"Run, run!" Vlad shouted pushing Seras off him. His voice caught the attention of the black haired man running passed him but he only got a glimpse of the boy's hair and clothes from the corner of his left eye before the thick chain hit him straight in the face knocking him to the side. His right shoulder hit the wall hard and as he fell just the door to the torture chamber revealed the second jailor from before. He never managed to take a single step forward as the knife hit its mark with deadly precision penetrating deep into his chest and stopping his heart instantly. The prisoner had an evil grin on his face, a malicious curl of the lips that virtually every other inmate there along with the jailor learned well enough what it meant. The possibilities were a few but the end result was always the same: a bloody mess.

His coal black irises fell on the two children, the retreating boy and the blond girl he tried to hide behind his back in a protective manner. Blue eyes met black in a powerful standoff but it would take much more than a pair of narrowed eyes to stop the far larger man from achieving his goal. Vlad stepped forward urging Seras to continue moving backwards with his hand. The history the two shared could hardly be referred to as 'civil' when in fact it had been that same mere child who had sentenced the man to his fate no more than a few months prior.

Satisfaction swelled within the prisoner's eyes matching his grin when his mind connected the dots as to why the boy's face seemed so very familiar the moment he laid eyes upon him. He chuckled whilst approaching.

"My _prince_." He sneered with morbid satisfaction sketching a bow with his head and coiling a part of the arm long chain around both his hands. A step separated the tow figures and still the boy did not move an inch. He held his ground like a faithful rock unchanging by the passage of time.

"And _you_ should remember it." Vlad replies with conviction.

The prisoner says nothing. Instead he smirks and makes a move for the boy's hand grabbing his right wrist. He pulls him forward erasing the distance between them and lowering his head so he could lean forward and brings their faces closer together.

"Not anymore."

That said he suddenly and quite violently jerked the prince to the side on his left and crushed him against the wall face first. Afterwards, as Vlad grunted form the sudden impact, the prisoner grabbed the back of his head and banged his head repeatedly against the wall until, the third time around, crimson stained the dark grey stone brick. Vlad's ears were ringing and blood trickled down his face from the fresh wound in the middle of his forehead as he was then thrown to the floor close to the recuperating jailor. His entire world was dizzy and spinning uncontrollably around him but the worst part was the throbbing headache horribly accentuated by each and every beat of his heart as it generated a vicious pulsing cycle. Every sound was pure agony.

By this point the guard was already back on his feet spitting blood and wiping his mouth from the leftover blood. Watching the prisoner he produced his own knife from the sheath strapped to his belt. The prisoner only laughed hardly impressed by the show of power.

"You already tried that once. Why would it work now?" a deep scar on his left flack bore witness to the man's statement. He was not the sort of prisoner to play along and obey, not by a long shot. As for his hatred towards them, well it was just as strong as the one regarding the vial creature who'd condemned him in the first place.

In the end his strategy was very simple and highly successful as he drew in the guard who'd let his anger get the best of him and he just rushed into battle without thinking first. And in that scenario the knife proved to be as useless a weapon as a feather could be. The black eyes man used the links of his chain to block the sharp blade and lock it in place making it impossible for his opponent to draw back and defend himself form the blow he received to the stomach. Using his knee the prisoner gained full control of the situation and, as his victim was preoccupied with the pain and the sound of the knife hitting the floor, he bend the man's arm behind his back and broke his forearm. The guard screamed in agony as a piece of bone stuck out of skin gushing blood, but it didn't last long as the same dark brown chain was efficiently wrapped around his throat in an manner much he'd witness not moment before when the first casualty of the night had taken his last breath. It got tighter and tighter chocking him to death, a slow and painful death he had no way of preventing any longer. His lungs screamed for much needed air, thin blood vessels under the skin of his face began burs open from the pressure causing petichiae to appear over his cheekbones, foam formed around his mouth. His face turned blue and he could no longer fight against the chain; the latter dropped from his throat as lifeless as his body would be in a matter of seconds. Death couldn't have come sooner for the man as it finally put an end to his suffering.

"And _one_ more." The murdered said slowly raising his head and fixing his sinister gaze Seras. He grinned anew saying. "And how lovely you are."

Her pale skin gained a faint glow in the light of the torch she had taken refuge near, her lips were still parte allowing her to breathe properly as she leaned against the wall for support. She had moved back just as her friend had told her with unspoken words but after seeing him get hurt she had involuntarily moved forward again a few steps. Now however, after watching someone she'd never seen before die so gruesomely before her eyes, she moved back and continued to do so with tiny steps. A chill ran down her spine the moment he addressed her once the terrible deed had been accomplished.

"Don't worry." He says whilst removing the heavy chain from the deceased's throat. The skin underneath was red and scrapped and bloody as the metal had dug into his flesh. "I'll be quick and maybe end you even faster if I like you." Seras didn't pay his words much heed. Instead her gaze lingered in desperation on the boy's fallen form.

He was still down but with his back to her so that she couldn't see his hand twitching and starting to move as his eyes struggled to stay open and fight off the dizziness.

"Vlad…" she calls for him as best as her weakened voice allowed.

"Or maybe," Her lack of focus had made her vulnerable and thus an easy target to grab. Taking left wrist he pulls her to him, head directly in front of hers, disgusting breath on her face. "I'll just keep you to myself."

"Let go." Seras pleads trying to pull her arm back while look for her friend again.

"There's no one else!" the prisoner screamed at her while turning around and dragging her along with force so that her back hit the opposite wall hard. "No one." Afterwards he shoved her down onto the cold floor with just as much force inducing another coughing fit that didn't please him one bit and he wrapped his left hand around her throat cutting off her air supply. The sudden lack of much needed oxygen caused her to struggle immensely just take one breath between several exhales. Her tiny hands clung to his much larger one around her throat but she lacked the strength to pry his fingers open and remove it.

"I don't need you alive." The man says looking down from face to her body while starting to move his hand down towards her pajama pants with other hand. Her body was small and so the length of the chain didn't hinder his actions.

His touch felt horrible and triggered something within her mind that pulsed with power. Time slowed down, her ears went deaf save for the beat of heart which functioned twice more before stopping entirely as his hand grabbed hold of the fabric. Her eyes roll back into her eye sockets, her irises flashed crimson red and immense pressure build up inside her mind ready to burst free. Then…

Sound returned and she had air, glorious air. And although it was still cold, damp and unpleasant but it fill her wounded lungs to the brink. Warm liquid splattered over the left side of her face as her head had involuntary turned in that direct during the struggle. She coughed opening her eyes at the same time and saw the prisoner's head pulled back exposing his throat that had a gapping whole gushing blood. The entire encounter lasted only a few seconds before she violently coughed again, but was still enough time to witness the smaller hand holding a bloody knife enter her line of sight, move over the wound and then cut for a second time slicing through everything in its path and deepening the already existing wound. Time quickly resumed its proper pace and her eyes closed. She coughed a few more times and turned on her right side without having to see prisoner's body fall to his left just as lifeless as his 3 victims had. He hit the ground at his killer's feet. The prince stood behind him panting with the bloody knife still tightly clutched within his right hand and a few strands of the man's hair in his left. The victim's blood trickled from his stained hand while some of his own ran down his face from the blow to his forehead. The knife fell form his hand echoing loudly as the metal tip was the first to hit the floor and the boy moved back two steps from the dead body. Immediately after he rushed to Seras's side calling her name.

"Seras…" he helped up waiting as she took a several deep, soothing breaths before raising head to look at him. Her features portrayed her panic but her relief as well. It took her a little while to fully recover and focus her attention back on the boy and notice cut on his forehead as well as the look on face, but then she remembered the man and attempts to turn her head to his fallen form and the pool of blood surround his head and torso.

"You don't need to look. He wont' hurt you." Vlad tells her with a hardened tone and a determined voice keeping her head from moving by cupping her face.

"What?" she asks faintly turning her gaze back to him and noticing the serious expression in his ocean eyes. "He wont' hurt you." He repeats tightening his grip on her shoulders. "No one will."

Despite the comfort his hand brought her his skin was still stained crimson with the warm liquid dripping from it and marring the side of her face. Their foreheads touched though the boy tryied to avoid putting pressure over the bleeding and throbbing bump.

"It's alright." Caress face softly. "No one will touch you I promise, I promise." He looks deeply into her eyes confirming his words.

"Please…" he pleads softly whishing for nothing more than the lack of fear and shock in her beautiful eyes to vanish; whishing for that look of trust to shine brightly in their place once again. Tears she never noticed ran down her face, crystal clear washing some of the blood off his hand as they touched it. Vlad's eyes sadden at the sight but he doesn't say anything as she buries her head under his chin and wraps her hands around his throat whimpering softly against him. There aren't more tears just the need for comfort in a familiar and desired touch.

"We have to go." Regrettably, Vlad breaks the hug pushing her from him gently, cupping face again and looking into her eyes. "I'll keep you safe little one."

"Vlad..."

"I'll keep you safe." He hardens the tone of his voice turning his words from a simple phrase to a solemn promise.

Having left the corpses of the deceased men behind, the two headed up the stairs and around the corner and through the formerly locked door. The latter opened in a new space, an antechamber with 3 separate archways leading into 3 different directions. Peeking around the frame of the middle archway Vlad scanned the area stretching out before them before taking Seras's hand and leading her down the subsequent hall which opened in a vast system of cells and corridors, an underground maze as it were with just as many turns and corners. 3 or 4 cells lined each corridor depending on the length of the cells and the type of door keeping them closed. The doors were thick and heavy with sturdy frames and efficient locks meant to keep the prisoners in. There were no windows just small squares holes crossed with two metal bars to let air in, one for each cell. Luck had provided a lack of prisoner in that particular part of the dungeon so that no one reacted to the sound of the girl coughing as the two children continued on their path taking two left turns and the a right before coming to a another small flight of stairs. The light of various torches danced over them.

Their hands were still joined; blood marring both their palms, yet neither of the two had deemed it important to wipe the remains of said liquid from their skin. Seras stayed as quite as a mouse regarding the matter although each time her gaze fell upon them she couldn't help remembering the cold and calculating look her fried had given the man whilst taking his life. It had been swift and easy and with no hint of hesitation whatsoever.

"This way." Vlad whispers pulling her along once they reached the top but she refuses to move. Instead she tightens her grip on his hand and leans her forehead against the middle of his back while placing her other hand next to her chin in order to take hold of his shirt. She refused to move despite his second urging and the slight frustration flowing in his words. Didn't she understand how important it was not to be found?

"They died." Her voice barely reaches his ears.

"So they did." He replies but his answer is short and to the point as he let's go of her hand and grabs her upper arm instead decisive in his decision to drag her along with a little more force than he had intended. They cross the new hallway which curbs to the left first then to the right and finally splits into two where they go left again.

"Stop." She pleads. "Please stop." She succeeds in freeing her arm from his grip but the hood continued to cover her face revealing only the curb of her chin and a few strands of golden hair. It made it impossible for him to meet her eyes once he was forced to turn around.

"Those men back there..."

"What about them?" Vlad cuts her off whilst raising his tone just a little. His blue eyes narrow in frustration and with a sigh he steps forward and yanks the hood off her head.

"What Seras?" he asks a second time, this time demanding a straight answer.

"You killed him." Seras tells him trying to make herself seem as small as possible under the harsh and scrutinizing look he was suddenly giving her.

"And he killed others. That's just how things are. Or would you rather I let him live, rape and kill you?"

"That's not what I…"

"Then what? You don't even know what he's d…"

"Thank you." Her words put an end to his ranting. She raises her arm bringing it up from under the black cloak and lowers her gaze from his eyes to the blood staining her flesh. "I couldn't, that time I couldn't and…" she pauses before falling deep in thought. And although she never mentions the incident she referred to, he already knows. "Father always said it's wrong to kill people. He says…"

"You shouldn't give a damn about what he says." The boy tells her with such conviction it compels her to raise her head and meet his gaze. "Their no better than the rest of the filth that walks amongst us. Corpses left to rot away in their graves. Morals are for those who do not wish to survive."

Seras just stared at the almost blank look in his blue eyes and the lack of emotion written all over his face that went into saying those words. And the more she stared the more she began to remembering something he's heard before, words eerily close in meaning.

"It no longer matters who they are, now they must die. This is just the way it is, this is what has to be done and no one has the power to change that."

She doesn't even realize she's speaking until a gentle hand takes hold of her chin tilting her head up. Her eyes blink regaining focus.

"Who's told you that?" Vlad's tone is now calm and his expression no longer one of anger or frustration as he kneels before leaning his head closer so that their foreheads almost touch. Seras looks away but the light pressure on her chin stops her.

"I don't know." She sketches a tiny smile. "I just see and hear you when I remember things but it's not really you or your voice."

"Whose then?"

"I don't know." She tells him in all honesty sounding somewhat disappointed in herself for not being able to answer his question. Somehow, though she couldn't understand why, it hurt to disappoint him.

"We do what we must to survive Seras."

"I understand that. I know that. And I'm grateful t…"

"You were never meant to come here. This was never something for you to see. Bad things happen in this place and will happen."

"Move it!"

Voices from the floor above them put an abrupt end to the children's conversation. Several pair of feet moved at a rapid pace running along the wooden floorboards above their heads. The light passing through some of the cracks flickered each time one of the new figures interrupted its flow by running though it.

"They're dead! All of them fucking dead!" one of the voice shouted. They were in danger.

"Follow me now." Vlad says urgently taking hold of Seras' hand once again. They run mimicking the actions of the men one level above their heads. The men would be delayed a few moments simply due to the fact that they would required some time to organize themselves before stalking the many halls and cells of the prison for those responsible.

The children successfully reach the spiral stairway that joins the many floors of the prison together with only a few seconds to spare. All the steps were made out of wood and stone, with each floor having a separate small wooden platform linking it to the body of the stairway.

"Hurry up you bastards!"

It was that one voice that froze the blood in Vlad's veins. The staircase was only one, the floors many and the men above about to find them. He ran down the stairs heading for the level beneath them instead of going up and moved so fast he skipped a few steps just to spare time. The motion caused Seras to trip and loose her footing on one of the steps, but instead of falling she crashed into the boy's chest as the former turned to grab her hearing her gasp. His back hit the wall knocking the air out of his lung and making him wince in pain. They were trapped between floors, his left hand covering Seras's mouth and his right wrapped tight around her waist, as heavy footsteps made the wooden stairs vibrate. At least 5 men passed them by with only a little space to spare and if any one of those men had spared a second to stop and look around they wound have been spotted.

Vlad's eyes looked up following the frantic movement of the men's shadows dancing over the surface of the walls as they descended one level and then made their way along the path they had just came form. "Find them!" the same voice shouted again in growing anger. "Find whomever did it and bring them to me! I will have order in this shit hole of a dungeon!

"Sahib, of course, we will search the floor." A second man whose voice the prince did not recognize spoke up.

"You will search every inch of this prison, every cell and punish every slave. Someone will have seen them, someone will know and if not then they'll know better than to try and escape!"

"As you wish."

"And get rid of those bodies!"

"Yes sahib."

The first man left but the second lingered on a moment longer putting immense stress on raven haired boy who followed his every move. If he attacked they'll be spotted and if not…

The man turned around grabbing a nearby lit torch from the wall just in front of the staircase to light his oil lamp. The added light fell on the hem of Seras's dark cloak illuminating it and her back, but it was through a seer streak of luck that the man was distracted by the sound of a door slamming and the shouting voice of one of the first prisoner to be 'interrogated' as per orders.

He then turned around anew and was just about followed the path his colleagues had taken minutes before when something hard hit him in the back of his head making him drop the lamp. A second blow then struck him in the middle of his back pushing his body forward so that his head hit the stone wall temporarily knocking him unconscious. The lamp fell spilling a good amount of the oil it contained over the edge of the stairs and setting them on fire.

The man grunted in pain, his head spinning, while the sudden noise alerted the already high-strung guards in the cells nearby.

"Something's wrong." A voice called alerting the two children.

"Run." Vlad says quickly pulling Seras along as they pass the growing flames and the injured man and climb a floor higher. The floorboards creek beneath their feet just as they had for the men not moments ago giving away their location as no one else should be at that level considering the overseer's order.

"There! Someone's there!" on of the guards says noticing the phenomenon. The chase was on.

"I've lost them before." The prince reassures the little girl before turning a sharp left, grabbing a lit torch and throwing it over his shoulder as an added distraction. Both the sound and the flames will prove a few seconds head start and adequate cover. They take a left, a right and two more left turns thus entering a whole new section of the prison. Here the only way to go was up. It was the base of a tower and so they climbed five stories up in order to reach the final floor.

Both children barged in through the very last door at the very top of the two and a half meter long platform stretching out from the last stone step. Despite the creaking sounds it makes the door is opened and the later closed with as much care as possible as not to alert anyone of its use. Immediately following, the boy's young companion was assaulted by a violent coughing fit as a direct result of the effort her sick body and exhausted lungs had been put through by running. Vlad's black cloak hid her features even more as she bent over with the effort just as the other resident of the cell appeared. He was an old man well over his 50is, skinny and dressed in dark gray rags very similar in design to the ones Vlad wore though worn-out with time. His movement was silent despite the not so subtle changes in his body: the left shoulder a little lower in position than the right with the entire length of his subsequent arm held far more closely against his body than the right one which held a crooked piece of wood, a branch, as a walking stick; both his knees were bent inward at a much more unnatural angle than one that could have come with age. They were all old injuries healed without proper care. He had long messy dark grey to black hair tied at the back of his neck with a piece of string while his beard was at least a palms length in size. The man had been, for many moons now, the young prince's sole companion, his sole _friend_.

"Well now boy…"his voice, though hoarse and strained, carried a happy tune that suddenly came to a halt at the sight of the second child. Vlad stood in an almost protective stance between the man and the newly girl whose back straightened with her arm moving down from her mouth and head shifting a little in his direction thus causing a mere glimpse of pure golden locks that trickled down the left side of her pale face. The two starred each other down, young blue eyes against older dark grey, as if waiting for something that never came. The other side of the door they had just locked was no longer quite but bursting with activity, voices, pleads and loud banging. They were all sounds known throughout the entire prison for their meaning. It was then that the gray haired man noticed the sudden dread taking over the boy's irises as well as the blood marring both their hands.

"Hide her." The boy's words came without much surprise given the circumstances, but it was the urgency and genuine concern underlining his simple phrase that stood out the most. Vlad grabs Seras's left wrist immediately after and pulls her behind him as he closes the distance between himself the man. The simple use of the word 'her' ends up confirming Istvan's first thought regarding the child. The second before last door banged, its hinges squeaking. The voices too had gotten far louder.

The prince's eyes pleaded far more than mere words ever could and for reasons he knew well and had felt inflicted on his own skin. "Istvan hide her. Take her to the hole th…."

"Are you mad?" the man quickly replies still looking at the boy's hands. Blood on a prisoner's hands was nothing new, yet it held two significant meanings: torture or murder. And murder always, always led to torture and punishment. And adding that fact to the current noise raging outside put all the pieces of the puzzle together. It wasn't everyday that the guards were so rallied up, but when it did happed it always meat something bad was soon to happen.

"Didn't you learn from last time?"

"He attacked me first." Vlad defends his actions though distorts the truth just a little.

"You mean to tell me _you_ were actually down there?" Istvan asks in utter disbelieve knowing he had more than once told him not to. "You have _freedom_ here in the tower, which is more than another man can claim, and yet you still went there? You squander it fro…"

The last door before theirs ringed, the very last barrier before true hell descended upon the cell. "She's just a child." Vlad whispered in a hushed tone pulling Seras forward in an attempt to redirect the conversation. Her cheeks were still flushed from the fever ravaging her body, her nose without use and pale rose lips parted allowing her to breath, blue eyes much like the boy's glossy and tired looking as she gazed up towards the taller man while rubbing her left eyes with the back of her free hand. 'She's just a child' implied so much more than what lies before is a young being just starting to understand life; it implied _innocence_. "And have both of us killed? They've seen you, haven't they?"

"Not like that." The boy is once again quick to defend.

"No."

"You know what they'll do." He continued to whisper, though the certainty lacing his words grew exponentially as time was running out.

"My prince…"

"She's important to me, please." Vlad pleads one last time pulling Seras closer and gripping her hand tighter. The look in the child's eyes confounds the old prisoner even more; he was being serious.

"You _know_ what they'll do." Vlad repeats his earlier sentence in a much lower tone that spoke of passed personal experiences. A fact Seras remained innocent and clueless of as her gaze wandered between the two in confusion.

Istvan remains silent as the sole display of emotion to cross him entire frame is the clenching of his hand around the upper segment of his walking stick. Then, without warning, his free left hand reaches for the girl grabbing hold of her right shoulder and muttering 'Come'. He turns pulling her along and succeeds despite her initial protest and shock especially after Vlad confirms the lack of danger and urges the action on. His right hand lingers over the dip of her lower back for a few seconds more than it took Seras to willingly go with the man, but as he was about to let go entirely he bent and twisted his head so that his lips brushed against the right side of her face in a fleeting touch and he whispers 'be safe' into her ear.

Unfortunately, there is not time for further explanations or lingering gazes as the prince turns from her and she's dragged towards the small space beneath the broken staircase near the back of the room. The room itself was a large circular shape space located at the top level of a tower. Hay was sprawled over the floor and one side of the room especially as a makeshift sleeping area while the ceiling was collapsed half way revealing the much smaller room above and the towers' end and ceiling. The remaining original ceiling of the room survived in about a third of its length while the rest had fallen in the northeast side of the room and the remains were so staked they formed stable, though makeshift stairway leading up to the second level.

Chains hung the wall of the floor above as well as the upper beams holding the tower's roof together. Some of these had links long enough to pass the hole in the ceiling and be in reach.

Grunting Istvan lowers himself on his knees and quickly removes two larger stone slabs from the floor as well as three chipped bricks from the base of the makeshift wall itself. He thus reveals a crawlspace far too small for any man to fit without struggling first but fairly easy for a child to slip in through without problem.

"Go, go quick." There's barely time to tell her, push her through and reposition one of the two slabs back in its original place before the door of their cell trembled under the blow it received. The doorknob, a simple metal ring, rattled against the dark wood of the door as it was followed by the prince's whispered voice.

"Hurry…"

The click of the lock became the last barrier to be overcome by the beasts entering the last room of the tower. The metal ring banged against the wall as the door was kicked open then jingled as the latter moved away from the structure in question and stopped entirely approximately five to six cm from it. The squeaking hinges masked the friction sound caused by the last brick being put back in place.

Three men stepped into the room, the latter two following the first. All three were somewhere in their late 40is with the first being the only one with short, clearly styled, black hair while the others had both messy short brown locks. Their clothes too were a significant indicator of the difference in status possessed as two were merely simple jailers and caretakers, but the black haired one was something else entirely: the overseer and a man with dark hair and poisonous eyes that held no pity or emotion. The prince took a step back once the door had been open yet, other than that, nothing else betrayed the rushing stream of adrenalin beginning to flood his system or the slightly increase of his heart rate at the mere sight of the three individuals. His face remained completely dethatched and void of any emotion whatsoever. One man carried a whip tied to the sash of his pants and a coil of rope in his left hand while the other man had a bat in his left hand.

At first the overseer merely glanced inside the room going from one corner to the other and then let his eyes linger quite uninterested on the raven haired boy in front of him. It had been what, about a week now since his last meeting with the young Walachian prince but orders were orders and this particular prison was proving most difficult. But then his gaze fell on the blood smearing his hands and judging by sheer quantity alone it was far too much to be derived from a simple cut.

The overseer's lips curled in an evil, wicked smile

Just then Istvan came out of hiding from behind the stairway limping as he stepped closer towards the boy. The overseer gave a flick of his wrist and the man carrying the bat stepped forward heading towards the old prisoner. The latter never got to say more than a few words of greeting before being hit in the stomach with the tip of the bat. The second blow was to the back of his neck once the doubled over in pain from the first one.

"Peasant's should be quite." The dark haired man said nonchalantly taking several steps forward. "Now then my prince, care to tell me how that blood and oil got on your hands. And do make it a good story, I so enjoy a good piece of conversation." With each step taken he moves in a perfect circle around the young prince whose eyes follow his every moved with a deadly glare in his narrowed blue eyes. He grabs the boy's right forearm raising it as to make his pint then lets it go chuckling. "And here I thought you had been forbidden form setting foot out of this place."

"The tower is mine." Vlad replies sternly with a smirk of his own. He'd learned to play the game rather quickly. "You should keep your own filthy feet from it." He glances to the other two men. "You and your dogs."

The overseer laughed in amusement.

"I do enjoy our conversations. Shall I tell you the latest news I've heard? My master has requested you join him again and it would be so dishonorable of me no to fulfill his humble whishes. After all, was it not grand the first time we brought you to him?"

Pure poison fell from each one of those words. V felt his blood run cold and his heart stop at the true connotation behind the man's vicious words. His eyes involuntarily widened betraying his state of mind.

"Remembering are we? Good, very good indeed. Remember it and much, much more. My master has made up his mind about you and should you not know this by now," the evil curl of his lips made the devil seem like a child. "So has your father."

"You lie!" Vlad shouts attacking the man only to be brought down by other two men. The one carrying the bat had grabbed him by his left arm and twisted it behind his back while at the same time hitting his right leg behind the knee to make him fall.

"Let go of me!" the boy demands trying to break free but is met with even more resistance in the form of a firm punch to the right side of his face courtesy of the second guard who had dropped the rope and had approached the boy from the other side. A kick to the stomach followed the punch, the two more, and then another to his back, then his sides.

"Enough." The black haired man tells his men in a completely bored tone as he walks up to the child and grabs a fistful of his hair jerking his head up. Vlad grunts in response holding back the whimpers of pain that threatened to pass his lips and swallows the blood filling his mouth from the cut on his tongue, the loose tooth and the broken lip.

"You're on your own now little prince and if you live then maybe, maybe we'll consider letting you go. If not, well then we'll just have to keep you for a bit longer, won't we?" he laughs in the boy's face without a hint of humility or mercy. There is nothing but cruelly shining in his dark green eyes like the scales of the cold blooded creature he embedded. "And who knows, you might eve start to enjoy it."

Vlad screams moving his head quickly so that his forehead collides with the man's chin forcing his mouth closed and his teeth to sink into his tongue.

The two guards had foolishly dropped their guard once the overseer had moved in to converse with the child and their lack of attention had given the boy the window of opportunity required. He had had a moment and nothing more, but even that was enough to take one small amount of revenge against his tormenter. With luck, he eve succeeded in punching the evil man in the face with his free hand and break his nose. It was a small measure of pure satisfaction that filled him before the second wave of beating. More hits followed again and again, the blows following as he eventually hit the floor. More cracks, more hits against his face, ribs, chest, abdomen and even his injured arm. Screams and blood gushed out of his mouth.

"Retched brat!" The overseer said wiping the blood from his broken nose from his mouth and looking down at the beaten boy whose back now rested against the stone wall. His left arm was badly hurt and bleeding from not only being stepped upon, but also from a knife wound he had just received from the guard carrying the bat. His breathing was hard and elaborate. "Are you all done little prince?" he asked, words thoroughly lined with sarcasm and lips curling in a wicked smirk as he continued.

"Because if you are someone **wants** to see you **again**."

The same man who had brought the coil of rope with him as he'd entered the small dwelling moved to pick it up of the floor and once he had it in his possession threw it over the boy and began pulling and dragging him towards the door.

"No!" Vlad shouted no sooner feeling the weight of the rope land around his shoulders and chest. He would not leave nor would he be taken yet again against his will; especially now when there was a third party involved. He fought back despite his injuries, grabbed hold of the rope and took the one holding it by surprise. Moving quickly he yanked it from them man's hands and, ignoring the pain ripping through his body, brought it down on the left side of his face much like a whip, much like all those times it had been done to him. It was enough of a distraction to buy himself the time need to then throw and loop the same end around his throat, yank and pull and take the man's life without mercy or regret. The look on his face was that of a monster, mad and cold, heartless. And though he started turning towards the second one, he didn't manage to do anything else as the latter was already by his side and used his injured limb against him. He grabbed hold of his upper arm with one hand and his wrist with his left and twisted the lower arm causing the already weakened and severely bruised bone to snap and break completely from the sudden force and pressure inflected upon it.

"Ahhh!" Vlad's scream of pain echoed loudly through before dying down in a low grunt, a deep inhale and exhale then quick puffs of air as his fallen, contorted body twisted in a failed effort to douse the excruciating pain. He was on his knees once more with his upper body bent over and left side of his face pressed against the cold stone slabs forming the floor and broken arm still held twisted backwards by the experienced jailer. With enough pressure and an even well placed move he could easily dislocate the entire shoulder as well.

Vlad's gaze fell, for but a moment, through the black curtain of his bangs on the surface of the small stairway and the person he knew would witness the horrors he'd always wanted erased from his mind, _everything_.

"Move him." The black haired man grunted disgusted by the amount of blood staining the back of his pristine sleeve from him wiping it off his face. The then spat the last traces of crimson from his mouth and reached for his belt inside of the elegant robe he wore over his clothing from where he pulled out a handkerchief.

Pulling on the child's injured arm the jailer deliberately twisted it rekindling the lightly dulled pain. The wound throbbed and he could feel the beat of his heart pulsing more intensely with each breath he took. Vlad grunted barely containing the scream from passing his lips as he was then pulled up by his shoulder long ebony hair and shoved in the direction of the stairs. His chest collided with the stone, not hard enough to cause actual pain; then again, he was already in so much it barely made any difference.

"This will cost you boy!" the man continued finally having found what he'd been looking for; the tip of a long and powerful leather whip far more deadly looking than then one carried by the dead guard, touched the floor as it was unraveled causing a distinct sound to join Vlad's raged breath. His lips curled yet again in that awful grin the boy has happy not to have to witness; he would not let the jailor have the pleasure of discipline. He chuckled watching with morbid satisfaction as his accomplice used the bat sticking hard over the middle of the prince's back making him double over in pain, movement which in turn caused shifting in the fractured bones of his left arm. It usually was a simple ritual, resist and struggle then be outnumbered beaten and whipped, but this time his oppressor didn't seem to mind the excess mistreatment forbidden from being utilized against him: none of the jailers had ever been allowed to cause him harm of their own free will and none had ever done so till that very moment. There were _others_ far more suited for the task anyways. "I hope you remember those last lashes because they'll be like heaven compared to this. My master can have you later, for now, you're all mine." His hands fidgeted anxiously squeezing and releasing the solid leather handle of the whip in his hands in eagerness as he watched the bat hit it's target over and over and over again: back, legs, hip and sides and ever the already useless arm. And each time the poor boy would grunt, gasp for breath as he fought with the pain and just barely manage to breathe in once in-between blows. That, at least until he was struck over the protruding bone in his arm when that happened nothing in the world could have been able to hold in his cry. A second part of the same bone fractured cracking loudly as glass smashed under someone's foot. Vlad toppled over the uneven stairs falling to his knees, his mind going blank and body numb as the new shockwave rendered his limbs utterly useless and he almost fell unconscious form the pain. He only just felt rather than head the sound of his shirt being ripped of his back at the same time he was pulled backwards and up by a strong hand that tied the rope around him. Both his arms were forced up as the jailor tied his wrists together and then passed the free end of the rope through the large link dangling from the ceiling above the stairs and his head. He hoisted the boy up putting tremendous pressure on his broken arm as he pulled until the boy had to struggle to keep his balance and redistribute his weight away from his broken arm. Only a small scrap of fabric over the lower part of his back was left intact thus keeping the black shirt from falling off his shoulders completely while the rest had been torn up pretty badly. Then…that very first lash came crashing down on his already wounded back. His left arm throbbed adding to the pain just starting to radiate from his scared already back.

It hurt, it hurt so badly, yet he was helpless to stop it and far too damaged to fight back any longer. He could not….

"Count!" his fate was sealed.

Something crashed into the stairway Seras had been hidden under emanating a loud thumb and a grunt of pain. The crawlspace was nothing more and nothing less than a small space enough for a child to pass though. Dust, gravel and dirt covered the floor and there has hardly any light as some of the stones holding the staircase together were not perfectly set allowing a small measure of light to seep into the various sized cracks. The only entrance was sealed shut behind her.

"_Quite, be quite."_ The strange man known as Istvan had whispered to her moments before the door burst open everything else went quite until a strange man had started talking. With her entrance blocked and the space small all she could do was turn around, crouching down and take a few tiny steps forward towards the somewhat wider space in the front. The entire base of the makeshift staircase, though seemingly thick and sturdy from the outside, was completely hollow from the inside and had even had tiny wholes through which both light and air could enter. She settled there as quietly as possible sitting on the floor with her back to he entrance and knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around the top of her knees. The men outside continued to talk not that her ears paid them much attention after hearing her fried shout and eventually grunt in pain. One of the men appeared to know about Vlad's deed and the more he spoke the more concerned she became. His words spoke of things she did not know of but his tone alone was enough to send chills down her spine.

_My master can have you later, for now, you're all mine._

More hits then continued to follow the stairs after that first one and they drew her in like a mouth to a flame, urging her to move, leave the safety of the small nock she'd chosen and approach the stairs themselves a bit more. Both her hands barely touched the surface as she stopped and knelt in front of them. Grunts and groans filled her ears forcing her to move. She whimpered wishing whatever was happening outside to stop but nothing could have prepared her for the heart wrenching screamed her friend gave off, this time so loud it actually scared her forcing her to back away.

Seras fell backwards almost gasping out loud giving her position away, yet once again the cries of pure agony proved to be her salvation along with the unmistakable sound of a whip cutting through the air. Evil radiated off those words the man would speak bringing with them hell on earth for the poor soul at the receiving end of his sentence. Whatever had been blocking the flow of light continued to linger in its current position for a moment before being removed.

Seras approached the hole with caution and the sound of her own blood rushing in her ears due to her increased heartbeat. Adrenalin coursed through her veins. The hole was right there, the view unobstructed…but could she dare do it? Did she _dare_ do it?

She hesitantly places her hands back on the stone and looks for a larger hole to look through. The largest she could find was no bigger than a coin but what she saw made her heart stop. Her friend was writhing in pain, his face contorted with each blow that came.

1,2,3,4…did counting even matter any more?

Watching was slowly turning her body numb. His right cheek hovered in her field of vision most of the time but she would get glimpses of either the corner of his lips or the base of his jaw depending on the way his body reacted to the pain and moved accordingly. His head was bent forward with his raven black locks protecting his features and though she could not see the rest of his body, she could make out the contours of his raised arms on either side of his head supporting him entirely. His left arm was utterly useless and bleeding as he desperately tried to hold himself up with his right. His hands gripped the rope so hard his knuckles appeared white and although she could not see his legs, she knew he was struggling to keep his footing. Less than half a foot separated them and the pain on his face was more than evident.

Each blow made his jaws clench and swallow the scream threatening to escape his mouth. Each blow became like a mantra holding her trapped and forcing her to watch the gruesome sight. She was so trapped she didn't even feel her own tears running down her face.

"26." It was the voice of the jailer that somehow succeeded in breaking the shock induced silence. Air rushed back into Seras's lungs and she blinked, a new wave of tears falling dripping from the corners of her eyes.

The counting continued.

"27…"

27 times the dreadful whip had come down over the boy's back in every direction possible over old scars, newer wounds and fresh cuts. The tip of his whip knew his flesh at an intimate level: the shoulders and shoulder blades, the upper, middle and lower part of his back, the sides, the hips, arms…even legs though the fabric of his black pants succeeded in dulling the pain by a fairly insignificant fraction only.

"Stop..." Seras whispers silently unable to hold back the pain and suffering overflowing her entire being.

_Stop…._

Such a simple word. The words were still hers but screamed a different voice, a pleading and heart wrenching fashion.

_Monsters stop! ….Stop it! Stop it!_

The voice rang so loudly inside her head she had to break eye contact, lower her head and clench her teeth together in order to suppress the sudden unexplained urge to scream them out loud with everything she had. Pain as if being stung shot through her head and, unfortunately, caused her to continue holding her head down and so miss the seconds long plea drowning the boy's eyes before fire consumed it. Thus, in the darkness of her closed eyelids, the image of the man inflicting pain on her friend and the motion of his arm moving up and down with the bloodstained whip was replaced by that of a couple standing on a bed in a dark candle lit room. The sight was from a distance at first but gradually increasing until the picture was as clear as if she'd been standing right in front of the bed looking down on the scene sprawled out in front of her:

_A man and a woman, the latter pinned between the former's body and the soft crimson bedding. Her arms were held up on either side of her head by his as a few strands of golden hair covered her breasts while the rest was sprawled out under her like a blanket. A second layer of pure black silk strands caressed her skin as the long locks cascaded down the man's sides and shoulders. A crimson sheet pooled around the twin pairs of entangled legs leaving their bodies utterly vulnerable and exposed to another. The black of the man's hair as well as his position prevented a clear view of his face then, as his back arched upward and his mouth left the right side of the woman's throat, the strong line of his jaw, his lips and nose became visible as he moved to secure them directly over his partner. His lips moved, as did hers, and yet not a single word was understood. There was however one advantage to seeing everything up-close…the woman's face, gazing up with fire burning passion, was hers. _

Seras's blue eyes snapped open. She gasped and was forced to move her body onto her right side in fetal position and her hands over her head as the second wave hit her even harder and her ears began ringing uncontrollably almost to the point of breaking.

"28,29..."

_Monsters stop! ….Stop it! Stop it!..._

Once more the same phrase filled her mind bringing pain with it, pain that was not felt at a mere physical level but as if ripped apart her entire being: there was hurt and anger, a plea for salvation, for mercy, a simple desire to make it all stop and perhaps even…be undone…

the blond woman was screaming those words over and over while another black-haired once stood by laughing in satisfaction.

_Seras! _A hoarse, deep voice called her name with frantic, urgent need for her to respond. It was the same deep voice from before, the one who'd asked her if she wanted to go with him, _follow him into the darkness _when all she wanted was to stay with her fried. Then, as stream of crystal clear tears ran down her cheeks uncontrollably, the man's face flashed wearing the same expression he'd hand when he'd proposed the question: soft eyes with no intention of malice, loving eyes….loving crimson orbs that were then swallowed, along with the rest of his face, and replaced by agonizing blue, tense muscles and anguish. The man was….

"Ugh!" Vlad moaned in pain no longer able to hold it in any longer. His head dropped along with the rest of his body stretching his arms passed their limits. His weight could no longer rest on the rope but the sudden shift moved the severed bones in his left arm waking him up forcing him to suck in a deep breath grunting and force his legs to push him up.

His cry shattered the continuous ringing raging havoc inside of the blond haired girl's mind forcing her to face reality. Seras's eyes stared lifeless at the groves of the uneven patch of floor laid out before her without seeing anything other than blank darkness. She sobbed blinking hot tears from the corners of her eyes. The man was her friend; her fried was…he was…

The sight of the couple returned.

_The raven haired man released her right wrist for a moment, long elegant fingers gliding over her pale skin, before taking her hand and guiding it gently towards his left side and the back where hundreds to scars patiently waiting for the gentle touch soon to come. The woman's hand roamed tenderly over the curve of his spine, to the sides then up towards the shoulder blades and the space between them until she stopped over his right shoulder squeezing it lightly._ _Once again both their lips moved with silent words only meant for each other after which her fingers moved to his face and pushed the silky strands out of the way revealing it completely. _

Her friend was…

"Master…." Seras's mind was too far behind to register the words passing her lips, her own voice whispering 'master' instead of her friend's true name.

"30….31….More again!"

"Ahhh!"

"Again!"

"Ahh!"

The overseer had long singe given up dirtying his own hands and had passed the whip to one the guards while continuing to count with immense satisfaction. He shouted and screamed not caring who heard him as long as the boy did an acknowledged his authority.

The boy screamed over and over until his voice could go on no longer and was rendered silent. The lashing kept on coming though until he was far to numb to feel anything else. Like a rag doll thrown in a corner he lay spread over cold stone letting it hold his weight as his feet were no longer up to the task. The broken arm was partially purple, his chest and abdomen also from all the beating, his back full of scars, blood and bleeding; barely any life at all left within his ocean eyes.

"Again! Again!" The man kept on repeating though finally stopping at 32 and letting that accursed whip rest. He began to chuckle, louder and harder with each passing second.

"Enough."

A different man suddenly stepped inside the room, his clothing revealing a status far better than even the boy's tormenter. His appearance was that of a wealthy man towards fourthly in age that lived his entire life in opulence and without a care in the world. He was twice the size of the man he passed as he approached the half dead prince. It was the same man one who'd hurt him before, ripped his clothes and humiliated him, violated him; the first to introduce him into the world of pure darkness, suffering and agony.

His clothes were vibrant in color, his fingers covered in rings with short greasy black hair hidden behind a white rimmed turban. His eyes were cold and calculated, dark brown in color, and his round face was covered by a short yet thick black beard.

"I had ordered the boy be brought to me without delay." His voice was stern utterly displeased.

"Of course sahib, apologies." The man quickly moved to justify his actions. "I was delayed. This filth required discipline, a task far beyond your graceful hands." He bows at the waist catching his breath from the excursion of floggings as he did so.

"Discipline you say?" The man's lips curl in an evil smirk as he entered the room and stopped right next to Vlad's feet. "Discipline is a gift of men not dogs." He then lunges for his head with his left hand, grabs hold of his shoulder long raven hair and pulls the former backwards bending it as well as his back with no consideration for his wounds. It was through sheer luck that Seras's head was bent and her body curled in a ball on the floor that the obvious sheen of her golden locks never surfaced to life through the crack in the chipped staircase.

"Ugh." Vlad grunted in pain as the sharp movement caused his skin to stretch and his wounds to bleed some more.

"What use could I possibly have for such a retch?" he hisses. "What use are you when you've outlived purpose, want and desire? When I could kill you were you stand? What are you other than a bargaining chip at my disposal, _Vlăduţ_?"

Mean words simply became utterly cruel as the man took the boy's name and spat upon it by calling him in such fashion. It never failed to get a clear response from the boy even with all those wounds marring his body he pulled his head back or at least attempted to in a failed attempt to break free of the man's disgusting touch. Unfortunately he hadn't the strength to accomplish his feat and the feat only succeeded in causing that same ruthless and disgusting smirk to appear on the fat man's lips. The same smile he'd always had while having his _'fun'_ with the boy.

"I wonder what your father, no, your grandfather would say if he saw you now? What would he do knowing what his first grandson, his little prince had become." The cruelty continued. "He never wanted you here. He never accepted our terms, neither the Jizya nor the proposal of having a son of his line sent us as a token of trust. Why he and even dared to face us in war just to prevent it, just to keep you safe. And now," he laughed so cruelly. "Through Allah's will and grace he's cursing the day he let his unworthy son have the final say. My master feared him. We all feared the demon of a man on his white horse, the demon who refused to die and who would have kept you close and safe and out of our hands had he still lived to this day."

That said the man let go of the boy's hair but not before pushing it forward forcing his arms yet again.

"I have no use for the sniveling brat of a bastard. We'll end him soon enough and then you just as we would any dog daring to bark back at its master."

"Kill me then." The prince replied catching his breath and forming his own smirk as he fought against the pain. He also turned his head just enough for his left eye to peer from behind his sweaty raven bangs and right arm and lock onto the man's form. "Otherwise I will bite and bark and destroy you.

"Then do it!" comes the reply as his oppressor once again grasps his hair and slams his head forward against the edge of the closes stone slab of the pile. The boy's right temple bled seeing as his head had remained in the same turned position and the act was repeated two more times. "Let me se you do it! You filthy retch let me see you take my life! Let me see you do it after I have broken every bit of your body and mind. You will never be taught as one of us, I will have rot in dungeons for the rest of your pathetic life. You will disappear from memory without a trace, without as much as a single tear shed on your behalf, in your filthy name."

Letting him got the man turn around to one of the guards and addressed the raggedy dressed man while heading towards the open door of the cell. "Get rid of that body."

"Sahib." The guard bowed ready to complying and let go of the rope he was holding. Vlad fell to his knees just barely stopping before his chin hit the hard floor beneath him. Instead the right side of his body took the most damage.

"I…I will kill you…" Vlad says breathlessly coughing up some of his blood in the process. Every breath hurt. "One day…I will spill your blood and bathe in it…"

"A bark without a bark." He turned towards his subordinate. "Bring him to my chambers."

"Like hell you will!" the prince shouted using all his remaining strength to push his legs to move and rise. Fresh crimson rolled off his back mixing with raven locks as each ripple his muscles made caused the cuts to stretch. "I am not your fucking dog!" both his keens and shoulders trembled from the effort, but his will was far from being beaten and trampled upon. "I **will** see you dead!"

The man simply grunted before reaching into one of his pockets. He pulled out a shiny peace of metal.

"String him up." He then said handing the object in question to the overseer. The same guard as before immediately complied by puling at the rope once more so that it raised Vlad's body anew. The new position put an even greater strain on his arm seeing as it forced it up in a single movement instead of a gradual one. The right limb overcompensated, but it could only do so much.

"A dog would have known his place by now. You on the other hand," the man continued hesitating for a moment as he pondered whether or not to approach the child again. He did in the end and his steps were loud as he walked prolonged the moment when he would strike. "You are still in need of discipline." He pulled at the boy's hair making their eyes look on each other. "You can choose your fate. Either this or we continue where we left off."

"Any hell's better than you!" Fire burned in his orbs for a moment. They could torture him all they wanted but not take his pride away. Never again, he had learned that painful lesson already.

"Then 15 more! The metal tipped one this time! Let us see how well a Dracul fares in Hell." He demanded as answer as he pulled back and threw the sharp piece of metal at the overseer who caught it without fault. "And when you're done," the smirk returned as he no longer addressed the boy. "Let him rot in this cell with no food or water for the next three days."

"Yes sahib." The overseer replied bowing low at the waist. His fingers let go of the of the main body of the whip which now beheld a metal tip, that very same sharp metal object he'd been given moments before. The sound as it hit the floor was distinct as was that made by the turban wearing man exiting the room without a second glance.

The metal scratched the surface of the stone floor as the overseer's hand tightened its grip around the handle of the torture device and he raised it up. Vlad inhaled deeply closing his eyes for a moment and clenching his teeth.

The whip came down even worse than before. He didn't cry out. At least not for the first three strikes.

Vlad's knees were the first to hit the floor followed by his elbow and the rest of his body followed. The rope had been cut from his wrists by the overseer then pulled away by the jailer who gathered it and threw it out of the room before returning to attend to the body of his former colleague which he then dragged by his feet outside of the room.

"Everything comes our way sooner or later, everything." He spoke while looking down at the child's broken body. "Your body will break long before your mind does, consider it."

As both men left the door was slammed shut and the cling of the lock echoed with the most beautiful though to cross the poor boy's mind: freedom. And though his body was truly broken from the merciless onslot, he would not be brought to his knees; his mind would not surrender.

"Don't move." It had been sometime during the middle of his second flogging that His cellmate Istvan regained consciousness from the powerful blow received to the head. His back leaned against the opposite wall, legs spread before him and left arm attempting to reach for his walking stick. "Stay still; it dulls the pain a little. I'll get the.."

"You…you think it matters…" Vlad said struggling to breath without ripping his own muscles in the process. Each and every inch of his back was cut and blood red, filled with wound upon wound upon wound; a massacre.

"It does boy." He limped passing him towards the stairs which he then began to climb without his cane. "At least now they won't touch your for a while. And who would know better than me?"

"You would…wouldn't you?" the prince laughed at the irony of it all. He didn't receive a reply from the man browsing through the upper floor of the cell where several smaller hiding places had strategically been created. There wasn't a need for one.

Taking in a few more deep breaths he forced himself to lean more onto his right side and face the stairway. His thoughts wandered towards the blond girl hidden behind them; still waiting and having seen and heard everything. Vlad closed his eyes and he sighed calling her name as silently as possible.

"You lied..." The sound of her soft voice laced with tears made his blue eyes snap back open. She was already out, already there and just a short distance away. Her legs bare up to her knees occupied his entire field of vision and yet it was the distinct sound of her voice that held his entire attention: it wasn't the one he'd expected, it wasn't a child's.

Long, utterly long golden hair cascaded down the woman's back and over the front of her shoulders and chest; her eyes, whether they were red or blue, were hidden behind the shadow of the locks. Vlad didn't bother looking up passed her waist

"You came too soon…"

"You lied. You're not my friend," a single tear fell from her chin directly onto his left cheek, the trails fresh on both of hers. "Not _just_ my friend, are you?"

"No." that much he admitted. With a long sigh he bravely lifted his gaze upward meeting her glossy eyes. Her irises were…

The door opened in a single moved, the lock not even heard by the two. The same guard as before returned via the overseer's orders. However, he stopped dead in his tracks, much like Istvan did after turning back and preparing to descend at the sight of the beautiful woman before their eyes. She still wore the same clothing, the light blue pair of pajamas, but it could not be more obvious that it was far too small for her especially the top at it strained against her chest and revealed her entire pale abdomen. The first hadn't time to form a smirk much less speak.

"Enough…" Seras whispered shoulders shaking, both hands clenching into tight fists while the entire cell began darkening and her body tensed to the limit as her lips pulled back just enough to reveal her teeth; her lengthening canines. "Get out."

The man did not. Instead he released the door and moved forward towards her.

"Don't." Vlad whispered pleadingly never taking his eyes off her. It was too late.

"What have w…" the guard managed no more…

"Seras don't!"

No amount of screaming could have saved them man. Seras's irises, as black as coal, watched the life fade from the man's brown ones. Crimson leaked from her raised right hand as she brought it up between them holding the man's still beating heart. The hole in his chest bled heavily as the major vessels were severed and his mouth parted as if wishing to utter something other than the gurgle sound which left him. He fell to his knees and then to his side dead and heavy as a rock.

"Enough…" Seras repeated the same word clenching her hand so hard it crushed the living organ spraying crimson all over her outfit and floor. Each and every bit of the cell's walls were framed over by a thick layer of black mist originating from beneath the woman's feet that quickly swallowed everything in its path.

"Stop lying, stop lying to me!" She screamed turning around to face the young prince. He in turn had struggled immensely just to raise himself on his knees and stand straight before her when her bloody hand grabbed his throat and pulled him up forcing him to stand on her terms.

"My prince!"

Istvan shouted reaching out but the darkness swallowed him as he attempted to climb down the stairs as it did everything within its vicinity except for the door which still remained intact, untouched and open.

"Stop…" Vlad pleaded despite the effort it took. "Seras stop…" He had to stop her before it was too late.

"You are **not** my _friend_." Seras pulled him closer sobbing. "You're not…why?"

The look in her recurring crimson irises was as well as the expression on her face was heart wrenching. Her fingers twitched against his skin as if debating her next move but then she simply lowered him until his feet fully touched the ground and air could once again pass through his constricted larynx.

"You are not my friend."

"I am." Vlad replied softly.

"No…no…" her other hand cupped his face and she leaned in foreheads almost touching. More tears rolled down her cheeks, the only difference being that crimson was begging to seep in alongside the crystal clear ones. "You….you were hovering…" Seras sobbed attempting to show him, attempting to remember what she'd seen without much success. Her head lowered hiding her face. "You were…"

"Please." The raven haired boy pleaded allowing his beautiful ocean eyes to reveal what his words could not. He did not expect…

"Master?"

A hummingbird would have been louder and far less damaging than that one word in that situation. And, as Seras raised her head revealing her eyes once again, Vlad's went wide and he chocked on his words at the sight. Her eyes were so intense and so shone so beautifully they eclipsed everything else including the horrible pain in his back. His lips remained partially parted unable to fully close on their own.

Just then the partially closed door was pushed open once more and the overseer returned clearly displeased by the delay in having his orders obeyed. "Imbecile haven't you moved the bo…"

His very first reaction wasn't towards the pair in the middle of the room or even the darkness surrounding them, but the lifeless and bloody body lying just a short distance away from his position, the hole in his chest and the shattered remains of his heart close the former. Vlad broke eye contact first as his body immediately reacted to the sound of the man's voice, a conditioned response by now that most of the time meant something bad was going to befall him. His deep exhale became the trigger which prompted the overseer to finally look up. Not only that, but the young woman's left hand moved away from his cheek across the back of his neck and through the mass of ebony hair before settling over the back of his head and pulling him very slowly towards her until there was no more space whatsoever between their bodies and the right side of his face was intimately pressed against her chest. At the same time her right hand slid over his injured shoulder and ripped shirt. The pads of her fingers involuntarily traced some of the cuts marring his skin causing his body to tense and the muscles beneath his skin to twitch in anticipation of the pain yet to follow. It didn't matter that her touch was soft and gentle because the stinging pain incredibly strong; he was never happier to have her body pressed up against his supporting the vast majority of his weight and his eyes involuntarily close savoring the magnificent moment for the small second it lasted.

"Mon…sters…" Seras whispered so silently only Vlad heard it while their visitor did not.

"Who are you?" the man demanded raising his voice; he was still blind to the changes happening around. To him, everything was still normal, the cell still intact.

"Monster…"this time, as she turned her head to face the intruder, Seras made sure he would hear it clearly. The crimson in her irises began to darken ever so slightly as she focused her gaze on him.

_They didn't kill me. It was all I got._

Her friend's voice…It rang so strongly and so hauntingly familiar despite its new found depth. The two no longer had any distinct boundary between them, in her mind they were the same. And that man, that vial creature before her….he had been **one** to…

"Don't…" Vlad's plea was very gentle as his body picked up the slight, yet intense shift in energy around them and he quickly placed his right hand over her upper left arm. The overseer chuckled smirking, his irises roaming over the woman's supple and alluring body. "This is the wrong cell my dear." He dared to step forward. "You should no…"

"Monster!"

Seras screamed eyes going pitch black. She moved dislodging herself from the young prince's embrace and lunging for her intended victim with incredible speed. Simultaneously, the door slammed shut behind him cracking in the process. The floor, the walls, it all faded being replaced by freezing cold darkness.

"Seras no!" Vlad shouted as well. A large, claw like shadowy limb wrapped itself around her middle stopping her short of slicing the man's throat. Still, her left hand did succeed in scratching deep wounds over the right side of the overseers' face before the man tripped over his own two feet in shock. A second, smaller hand, immobilizes her bloody one as the freshly drawn, warm, crimson liquid rolled down her finders mixing with that already there. She jerked and struggled against the restraints, hissing and barring fangs so long they cut at her bottom lip in the process.

"Monster! Monster!...Monstrule!" Each word grew in intensity as she screamed them. Hot crimson tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes as strongly as freshly released river. They replaced the pure crystal from before much like the intense crimson in her irises did for the soft sky blue. Unable to reach him she began to claw at her restrains but their hold only grew. "Monstrule!"(Monster)

"You filthy little heathen!" the middle aged man shouted blinded by rage and pain both induced by the deep cuts marring his face. He got to his feet while reaching for the whip tied to his waist with his right hand. The former still had a bloodied metal tip. Seras screamed again infuriated beyond reason by the mere sight of the weapon. She ripped her arm free of its contained and struck the man before he could hit her with an extension of her left arm. It was, in a way, a whip of her own. She sent him flying into the darkness behind him where the door hand been crashing and crushing his body against the still hard surface. The black clawed fingers ripped through the remains of the door penetration it and successfully pining the unfortunate man to its surface.

"Draculina!" the boy desperately called her trying to get her to pay attention to him and eve stepping in front of her and once again grabbing her hand and attempting to hold it down. Regrettably, she paid him no heed. Instead, her irises flashed red for a moment before turning back to charcoal black as tendrils of inky blackness shot out of the wall from all around the man surrounding him moving like the tentacles of a squid around its prey. They swallowed him up first, the darkness second and all the while his cries of pure terror filled her ears echoing through the void she'd created. His bones cracked and the scent of fear and blood fuelled her bloodlust to dangerous levels.

"Mori!"

_Mignonette…_Pip's voice suddenly filled in the gaps between the overseers' dying shouts and Vlad's calls. It came very soft and gently spoken.

"Seras!"

"Mori!" She screamed that one word from the pit of her lungs, putting everything she had into it.

"Mignonette!"

The mercenary's voice was no longer a whisper but a strong shout. Without warning a second pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her backwards. Her eyes caught a mere glimpse of a long brown braid flying into her field of vision after which it all went black.

.

.

.

"Merde."

The mercenary's voice was the only sound to fill the otherwise empty space known as the castle's catacombs. After waking up not long ago to a raging headache and utterly sore body not far from the very room he now stood in, he'd made his way through the many twists and turns, empty rooms and pillars before finding that which he'd been looking for: the room in which Seras had presumably been put to sleep. And instead of a locked room all he found was a broken door ripped off its hinges and the completely destroyed remains of a dark brown coffin with a white cross over the lid.

"Mignonette…" He whispered with a sigh closing his one good eye and pulling his had a little more over his face with his left hand. He was just about to turn and leave when a bloodcurdling scream from above made him freeze on the spot. The catacombs were a vast system of empty rooms and halls several feet under the castle's dungeon and dug directly into the body of the mountain. It was not physically possible for a scream occurring upstairs to reach all the way down there and at that intensity no doubt. He ran…

"Monster! Monster!" Seras's screaming never stopped not even when he finally reached the main hall and the grand staircase. Now, above ground, it was far easier to follow the trail of sound in the direction of the once sealed black door, up the black stairs and into an utterly ruined room filled with dark mist and a pillar like object, formed of the same substance in its center. However, the greatest surprise of all was seeing large demon hound cowering from it, backing away with careful movements; his head and tail both down while baring his teeth and growling every now and then. The screaming radiated in waves from the pulsing centre mass much like ice cold mist which had his legs incased by now. It moved up his ankles over his boots and pants sending off the same sensation a person would have from falling into a frozen lake. Worse, each time he would free himself the assault on his limbs would increase until he was trapped up to his hips in the black substance.

"Mori!" there was no mistaking the draculina's whose very lungs seemed to have burst open from the effort.

" Je vais le tuer."(I'll kill him.) Pip curses low under his breath before launching himself forward and into the mass. "Mignonette!" his call is swallowed along with the rest of his body. He fades from sight only to emerge not a second later on the other side of the room with a half conscious golden haired vampire clutched to his chest and a wounded raven haired boy whose hand never let go of hers. Coming out of the pillar his body twisted at 180 degrees and he fall onto his back pulling the other two along for the ride. The boy fell first as his legs could no longer support his weight. Unfortunately, his fall made things worse as it not only put immense pressure on his back and right side but also bent his left arm making him cry in pain and quickly assume the fetal the position in sheer reflex. It was about a second or so after his fall and during the time it took for his voice to die down that Seras overshadowed it with the most bloodcurdling scream the brown haired mercenary had ever heard in his life. "Ahhh!" her back arched out of the mercenary's embrace forcing his arms to let go and her head dropped from his shoulder into the crook of his neck. Her lips and fangs were both blood stained from self-inflicted injuries.

The darkness faded and with it light started peering into the room through the cracks and space between the wooden boards sealing each and every one of the five small windows. Her eyelids were heavy and the draculina fell unconscious.

"This way?" Pip asked turning his head back as he carried the unconscious draculina in his large demon hound came up behind him, his steps slow and careful as he helped support his young master. Vlad's right hand held onto his black fur over the space between his massive shoulder blades. Though the bleeding had stopped and the pain had somewhat dulled in the time it took them to leave the tower, cross the castle and return to its eastern part, moving, however slow it was, was pure torture. The upper, middle and upper half of his lower back were all still exposed to cold winter air, though partially hidden by his unbound raven hair which passed his shoulders just barely. The entire right side of his face was swollen and throbbing. He could not open his left eye and speaking hurt his jawbone. his nose, though the cartilage was not broken and deformed, made it difficult to breathe properly; his upper and lower lips had cuts on the with the lower in worse shape as some the damage was self inflicted in the failed attempts to hold in his cries. The contusion on his left temple had left a trail of blood, a thin trickle, over the purple left cheek and down his throat as he'd not wiped it off. His entire torso, though hidden behind the black of his simple shirt, was jut as blue with bruised ribs three of which fissured; he was lucky none of them had broken completely and punctured his lungs. The only wound he truly had problems with was his left arm due to the broken bone and the crushed muscle mass.

"Yes." He said softly but without raising his gaze; his bangs, at least in that position, hid some of the damage. "A little further."

They were one level above the previous room Alucard had given Seras a lifetime ago it seemed. And unlike the former, there were absolutely no lights, nor objects of décor to catch ones eyes. The corridor was bare, completely bare save for the pattern made by the stone slabs of the floor, ceiling and walls. No torches hanging off the walls, no curtains despite the five medium sized windows, surprisingly, on either side. More so the hall itself was at least twice the length of the one below and led to a single room with double doors.

Pip's right eye lingered over Vlad's frame the entire time, a sort of _sadness_ reflecting within his emerald green iris. In truth, he'd not paid him much attention at first despite the horrid wounds impossible to miss; his attention had been utterly devoted to the young woman now in his arms. Her conditioned had had first priority in his mind and so he'd overlooked him and everything to do with him. However, now upon closer inspection, he could not deny that there was this uncanny resemblance to the vampire that gave him chills and was, perhaps if not likely, a key factor in ignoring him.

Yet now, just by looking at the kid, it didn't feel right; not at all.

"Kid?" he asks before thinking and meaning too. He would have stalled this sort of conversation for at least a little while longer, but now that he involuntarily started there wasn't a way back. He only used that one word, but it was his tone that gave the rest away. That and Vlad raising his head and meeting his gaze. Baskervilles head was about to pass him as he came up from behind.

Vlad sighed concealing a small chuckle as he picked up on his hidden meaning. "Just move _mercenary_ or have you all day?" he made sure to say it with as much sarcasm as possible; just like always. And if the man was really, a little smart in his opinion, he would figure it out for himself.

Surprisingly, he did.

"Wonderful." Pip silently cursed sighing in the process. Couldn't he get a break, ever?

"Are you everywhere vampire?"

"Where I need to be." Vlad replied coldly passing him. A beam of light crossed his path shedding light over his chest and subsequently his back as he kept on walking. "Yeah well n..."

In daylight, the many cuts and coagulated blood seemed far worse than they had been in the dark dungeon cell.

"Keep moving." The boy paid no heed to his lack of speech. Baskerville grunted, a low ruble of his chest, and swished his tail hitting Pip's legs as if punishing him on.

"Kid."

"What's it to you?" the prince suddenly snapped raising his tone. He stopped and turned his head to look over his right shoulder a bit to fast. He immediately hissed closing his good eye and lowered his chin a bit. He inhaled deeply taking control over the pain. "Come on." he eventually spoke again but with a much lighter tone and took a step forward. A hint of annoyance floated in the air.

"Did she do it?" Pip asks him directly. His fingers tighten their grip over Seras's upper left arm as well as the underside of her knees as he held her bridal style with her head leaning against his left shoulder. "I heard her scream and I saw her fight you. I could feel her anguish!"

"How nice for you." Vlad replied facing forward.

"Vampire…"

"I'm not the vampire." He cut Pip's sentence short. Pausing, he allowed a moment to pass between them before turning his head, this time much slower, and with it the rest of his body halfway. "I don't even truly exist. The only reason you're able to see me is because you are a part of her power, nothing more." His lips curled upward in a very small and sort of ironic smile. "But no, she didn't. The illusion of _your_ precious mignonette is still intact. She'd not a monster yet. I am."

"Because they beat you?"

"Because of what they made me. And what I allowed myself to become." A second, wicked smile, took over his first. "Or am I suddenly _not_ such a **monster** anymore? Now that I bleed like the rest of you mortals?"

"I didn't say…"

The boy chuckles at the sudden change in the mercenary's attitude. "You're more pathetic than my wounds."

"Well fuck you too vampire." Pip replies in turn putting an end to feeling sorry for him. Afterwards he too starts to move and pass the two thus regaining his position in front.

"A simple answer from a simple mind." Unfortunately for him, the young prince did not let it go.

"Tais-toi!"(Shut up.)

Chuckling a second time Vlad moved to follow but not before his eyes flashed red and his fangs revealed themselves for the first time beneath his upper lip.

A few minutes later the small group finally reached the end of the hall and the twin doors, in silence. Pip tried opening it with his right foot but the door would budge.

"Have I offered my hatred for you lately? If not I'm about to."

"Just get her in."

Refusing to take the bait Vlad merely touched the right side of the door and it opened without a hitch. This room too, circular in fashion, had every window bolted down in the same way but, unlike its sister room underneath, had a set of two other doors: one leading into what was a bathroom while the second, solely made out of glass and a wooden frame, let outside towards a small balcony. It too was bolted allowing the bare minimum of sunlight to enter and cast a ghostly glow over the room's few remaining objects. They weren't many, yet each one was covered by a yellowish sheets stained with age. A small square table with two chairs was on the right side in the far corner of the room surrounded by two large windows and what could have once been a large wardrobe in the other. Its base shone underneath the sheet with the wood dark in color and matching the odd frame of the large circular bed taking up most of the space in the room. It occupied more than 3/4 of the floor, was low to the ground and had just one step above floor level. It was covered by old, ripped and dusty sheets. The ceiling too was very low when compared to the rest of the rooms and so approximately a foot's distance from actually touching the circular shaped canopy of the bed. The base of the bed touched the far-end wall of the room and had a round frame though not entirely visible due to its low position relative to the floor. Four wooden posts displaying the same dark color as the wardrobe and an intricate carved pattern connected the canopy to it. The outer part of the latter displayed a dome like shape while the inside had a double layer of fabric. The first, matching the outer segments color, was thick and tied in a knot in the middle with a small circular box shaped piece of wood to cover it. As for the second, it was made out of silk drapes, fine and transparent but ripped and bleached with age so that they displayed a dirty dark grey color. More thick drapes hid away the back wall and also connected the two back posts. The rest of the space between the front posts and the sides were occupied by matching ripped thin fabric.

As the first to enter Vlad crossed the room until he reached the right front post. He used it to lean against in after releasing the large wolf like hound as its twin on the left was missing the upper 1/3 segment and was so rendered unusable. Baskerville grunted shaking his head a little before moving on. His body was relaxed and he kept his tail hung loosely as he went on to inspect the surroundings.

"Put her down."

Pip sighed sounding annoyed. "Down where, on cobwebs and dust?"

The prince chuckled smirking. "Ignorant." He whispered silently before he allowed his right hand to slide down the length of the post, touch the bloodied part of his left and then return it over the wooden surface. His fingers left a bloody trail that was quickly absorbed and vanished without trace. The wind picked up in the room, a gentle caress at first, then an intense gust of air that raised each and every speck of dust, rattled the wooden boards and moved every piece of fabric from their original place. The entire event only lasted a few minutes but proved itself to be sufficient for the changes it generated. Within seconds the windows burst open, the boards cracking as they were ripped part, nails included. Light flooded the room like a torrent from a raging river and the mercenary was forced to close his eye and kneel as to avoid getting hit. He leaned over the unconscious draculina attempting to shield her but it was already too late as the event was already over. The atmosphere calmed and everything settled down into proper place: the light faded as long, thick, maroon colored curtains took the place of the boards, the shattered glass of the windows reformed, the dust cleared and fresh linen covered the bed. The entire room had a completely different look as the dirty grey dye of the bed was replaced by deep blush for the main body of the canopy and alternate shades of light and pale blush for the thinner pieces of fabric draped over the sides: lighter colors in the front that gradually darkened towards the back where it matched the canopy's main body. Every pieces of furniture was brand new, dark mahogany wood beautifully carved and sculpted and only one candle shed faint light from its perch high above everything else within the room. It was a relatively small and simple black metal chandeliered with a total of five branches yet just one lit candle in middle that casted a flickering shadow.

It had been utterly silent for the past few seconds before the green eyed man dared to raise his head, look around and relax his posture. At the same time Baskerville sneezed clearing his nose from the excess dust then simply laid down next to the now intact left side front post.

"Now," Vlad spoke putting and end to the still atmosphere. "Put her down. You can handle that, can't you? "

Pip offered no reply as he narrowed his good eye at the boy then stood up and crossed the small distance between him and the bed. The moment his feet touched the sheets his dark brow boots vanished and he was left barefooted and on the brink of tripping over his own too feet.

"Watch it!" he snapped knowing full well who was to blame for the incident.

"You're getting it dirty. You may enjoy sleeping in dirt but _we_ do not."

"Whatever."

Pip chose to ignore the statement as he laid Seras gently over the soft and silken surface in the middle of the bed. Her golden hair spread over the covers before the rest of her body followed.

"Will she always be like this?"

"Perhaps." Vlad said softly before pausing for a moment. "I cannot give you an answer."

"Yeah? Than maybe you can answer something else." Pip stood from Seras's side and slowly turned towards the suffering boy who had long since left the side of the post and was in the process of sitting down on the mattress not far from his current position. His black shirt reformed over the hideous wounds bound to leave deep scars both physically and emotionally and shadows coiled like black bandages around his body beneath. It would take much more than that for them to fade. "Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am mercenary?" Vlad countered turning his head to look at his accuser. He licked his lips still tasting blood on them and flashing a hint of his fangs.

"You tell me."

The two stared each other down like many times before. Eventually, he gave his answer accompanying it with a light version the classic Cheshire cat grin as to keep the pain in his jaw at a minimum. "Why? When it's none of your concern?"

"And that means what exactly? I'll find out eventually, I'm part of this regardless of what you do."

"Not really, not for long. You have less time than I do. You'll fade into nothingness soon, quite soon."

"Before the sun sets?"

"Before it rises again."

"And you?"

"We all have your purpose, our end." he smirked. "My time will come."

"And I'm the fool who's supposed to accept it?"

"It depends. Are you?"

"Just what do _you_ want vampire?" Pip asks the raven haired boy suddenly crouching down at the child's level with both elbows resting on his knees and his arms hanging down between his legs. "What does it take? What _will_ it take?"

The boy chuckled tilting his head back exposing a full row of true vampiric teeth. His bangs hid his eyes just in time to conceal the second long shift from ocean blue to scarlet red. After that he lowered it anew and their eyes met.

"You can start by setting my arm."

_To be continued…._

Note, the Jizya is basically a form of tax imposed by the Turks on non-Muslim citizens and was warranted by the sultan which is why both Vlad and his younger brother were sent to learn from the ottomans as a means of securing loyalty.

Till next time.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry for the delay, but I'm extremely busy right now with two more weeks of exams. I'm posting this chapter now although I had originally wanted to post it together with the next one. Enjoy.

**Chapter 9**

The rising sun would have bathed the room in beautiful orange and yellow colors had the light been able to penetrate through the thickness of the old curtains. Several rips only provided a little bit of space for the rays to seep in through.

The young prince sat on the soft mattress of the bed next to Seras's quietly sleeping form. The wounds on his back as well as the injured arm prevented him form lying down next to her without subjection himself to a new round of searing pain from the movement it would require. With the broken bone now properly in place the throbbing pain had dulled immensely as his arm was wrapped in black bandages and held in place with two broken pieces of wood Pip had found about an hour earlier.

Regrettably, there wasn't much else he could about the pain the whip had inflicted on him. Moving hurt as it forced his skin and muscles to stretch and reopen the open raw cuts and the highly sensitive skin. His clothes were still the same just less torn and raggedy and dirty and his shoulder long hair was tied back in a low ponytail with a thin crimson ribbon.

Baskerville whimpered raising his head from his lying down position. The noise he made caused the boy to open his eyes and turn his head towards the left where the large hound laying at the foot of the bed. He smiles watching as the fateful hound rises and makes his way over to his position. His large paws sink into the mattress causing dips to appear with each step he took. He lowered his head in front of his master and moved it beneath the boy's outstretched hand happily accepting the light pad on the forehead.

"No one comes in. Unless you are call you do not leave." Vlad tells him quietly as not to disturb the draculina's peaceful slumber while stoking the midnight black fur. "Protect her alright."

The hound whimpers a second time shaking his tail slowly a couple of times. His crimson eyes gaze over his master's form for a moment longer before sitting up and leaving the bed to head towards the partially open door of the chamber. The latter started to close in accordance to his stride and by the time the hound's tail exists the room the twin edges of the door meet in the middle closing behind him with a last screeching sound. It's only a short moment after that howls fill the empty halls of the ancient castle

With the hound gone Vlad sighs and starts to move closer towards the young woman allowing himself the simple pleasure of stretching his beaten body next to her left side and placing his head over her chest. Each inch moved is a torment that has him clenching his jaws tight and swallowing the pain. His head moved up and down with each intake of air she took and each exhale that followed shortly after; a very faint rhythmic heartbeat sang into his ears like a gentle lullaby.

The prince closes his eyes savoring the beautiful moment as he would soon the cause of its downfall.

"What do you fear Seras?" he asks her as if she awake to offer adequate reply. And though his lying on his right side, he searches for her left hand with his right entwining their fingers together and squeezing tightly. "When you see death what do you fear?"

He asks a second time whilst searching her mind and projecting an image into the darkness he comes across; an image that had her entire body respond and tense beneath him by tilting her head back and parting her lips in a pained whimper. It was the image of a tattooed woman wielding a large scythe and the more he enforced it into her mind the colder her touch became; a cold inky like black substance began training up the inner side of her left arm from their joint hands. Inch by inch it swallowed her skin dying it as black as the night until her entire limb was turned.

"And when death calls upon you…"he continues showing the woman's face as she moved behind his draculina and cut out her eyes and then arm in rapid succession one after the other. Seras gasped loudly finally squeezing his hand in return.

"Do you merely obey or do you keep walking forward and renounce it all?"

Her left arm lost its' shape becoming a swilling mass of red and black that continued to spread up towards her shoulder and collarbone. Only a sketch of her palm remained to hold his hand.

"Do you die Seras?" Vlad asks opening his blue eyes and projecting something else: a sword flying through the air and embedding itself in her heart with him catching her from behind shouting her name as the image then fades into nothingness and the darkness consumes her once more.

He can hear and feel the beat of her heart increasing to the point where it sang quickly and loudly against the side of his face. And when he calls her name its rhythm increases even more..

"Yes?" she whispers answering his call, but her lips move without proper consent of the mind and her voice is driven by nothing more than pure instinct; that of obeying her master's command.

"Are you a _virgin_ my dear?" the prince's voice shifts from that of a child to the deep baritone that speaks with a seductive streak, amusement and curiosity. The tone is subsequently followed, with only a fraction of a second in delay; buy the loud banging sound of fierce gunshot ringing in her ears and the sudden jolt that came with it. Her heart stops entirely beneath his ear and her eyes open to the darkness of the room, irises a deep yet sterile crimson. She gasps arching her upper body as she takes in several deep and much needed breaths of air. She doesn't move otherwise not even to blink as her gaze remains firmly fixed on the small circle shaped piece of wood in the middle of the canopy's interior design.

Breathing becomes painful not a second later and she starts feeling wet and cold as her heart starts beating anew. Blood spreads from her light blue nightgown and the prince's raven hair and covers most of the right side of her chest. She is soaked to the bone in less than a minute.

Vlad's skin and hair become wet from the contact and her scent fills both his nose and his lungs to the brink. He inhales deeply closing his eyes and savoring the tasted her scent induced on the tip of his tongue.

"What's it feel like to be dead?"

_The image of her body falling forward in the aftermath of the shot flashes through Seras's mind._

"To hurt so bad you feel nothing at all?"

_Blue eyes she tears as her body lay there cold and alone, dying beneath the golden light of a beautiful full moon. The image then changes and her eyes are no longer blue but a deep crimson and her tears freshly spilled blood that stain her cheek in a far more visible manner. The ground beneath was no longer cold, solid earth but a strong arm clad in crimson leather supporting her around the shoulders whilst a second hand covered in a stained white glow and marred with a pitch black symbol over it held her right cheek._

"To know…"

_The sword imbedded itself almost to the hilt inside her chest and heart with the pain in generated overshadowed only by the hideous and distorted smile and laughter of a bandage covered face._

At this point Vlad was only prolonging the inevitable. His hand had tightened its grip on hers despite the majority of it being no more than a semisolid mass of shimmering darkness. He heard her sob inhaling deeply as more tears escaped the corners of her eyes and the beat of her heart began to grow ever fainter.

"Nothing and no one will ever come save you."

_The sword was viciously pulled from the chest causing tremendous pain and anguish and she screamed, the world going dark._

"And know that no one cares where you live or die."

A new face emerges in the void of her mind, his own. A little older and features more defined, still no more than 14, and still a prisoner of the miserable retch holding him prisoner.

_He lay beaten and bruised on a circular floor partially covered in straw and his own spilled blood while a bunch of men stood over and around him finally having stopped the merciless onslaught. His lips passed blood again and again in aftermath of each and every blow to his chest and stomach as he was finally granted the freedom to breathe properly once more and fill his screaming lungs. His hair was twisted and as several pieces of long, thin, straw littered the raven strands. Large bruises would soon form over almost every inch of his torso, abdomen and back and he could barely move._

"_The boy yet lives; we shall keep our word as agreed." The voice belonged to the same rounded individual with greasy black hair hidden under a turban with rings on his fingers and opulent clothing as he talked to an older looking man with dark eye and short black hair which also had several white streaks lost between them. _

"_Father..." The young teen whimpered looking up with much effort. He lay at the bottom of bit and was thus forced to crank his neck up and to the side to be able to look passed the walls of the circular hole. Man and child exchanged glances; him above looking down in the pit with much indifference and a distant glance, while the boy's was filled with desperation and suffering. Yet still he refused to cry and held back his tears despite the long list of injuries which had been inflicted upon his body. New wounds replaced old many times over in the time he'd spent as their 'guest', older ones sometime not even having the proper time to heal before more were inflicted. Instead they hardened and narrowed in defiance beneath the strands of hair partially covering them from the cruel world beyond his dark bangs as the last flicker of hope died in the ocean of blue sorrow and betrayal as his pleas continued to be ignored. His only parent's back was turned to him with so much indifference it broke your heart. Anger and acknowledgement of the situation took over and despite the blood partially clouding his vision, the boy saw it all. He saw and understood the true meaning of weakness. Weakness to save what was yours from the start, weakness to stand for what you vowed to accomplish and believe in. His father would not keep his word and he would never raise his voice to save him. No, to save yourself you had to stain your own hands in the same blood he was drowning. "Father." He could do nothing but whisper at this point, whisper and attempt to stand as he watched the man leave sealing his fate once and for all. His cries reached deaf ears and were lost to the soul crushing silence of the pit and the metal sound of the large door closing behind them man in question imprisoning him, sealing his fate and ending his life as he knew it as though it were worth nothing at all._

_"I have no son." The words broke a once innocent heart._

"Can you save me draculina? Can you save yourself?"

Once again she saw herself in that same pool of blood held up by the same crimson limb and coughing liter upon liter of blood as her lungs drowned from it. This time though, the motion she saw happed outside of her mind as her body mimicked it to perfection: head tilting back with an inhale and a then coughed out a good amount of blood. Her hold on his right hand almost broke the bones while the right gripped the sheet so hard her nails tore though the fabric with tremendous ease. Her body shook and the prince was forced to use his own weight against her hold her down. It proved quite difficult as well as painful to move his left arm and place his hand over her stomach spreading his fingers wide.

"Or are you willing to die and let them have you?"

"_Take it back!" a little blond haired girl screamed while charging at different child her age._

"_What did I tell you?" a woman all dressed in black, an older looking nun, said in an angry tone slapping the girl over the left cheek. "Answer me Seras! What is wrong with you? _

"_Mon…mom!" little Seras screamed waking up alone in the dead of night in a hospital bed bandaged up. _

"_Stay hidden." Compassion_

_"Everything you are, everything you do is a __**disgrace**__!" a man also in black with a white collar hollered bringing his fist down onto the flat surface of the light wood desk in front of him as he stood up rather violently from his chair causing it to fall back with a loud thud. He screamed and he shouted towards a bloody and beaten child with short yellow hair covering most of her bruised and swollen face. Her nose mouth and lower lips bled; the cartilage broken and bent, her gums pierced from the blow of the fists received and the two teeth lost in the process. Her left leg limped, the knee cut; her knuckled were caged with blood while the ones belonging to her right arm were also accompanied by a fractured wrist. She was muddy and dirty from head to tow and starred at him with a look filled with hatred though it was concealed by her golden bangs. "You will never be anything other than what you look like now: trash! A disobedient, violent, unwanted brat no one will ever want around themselves or the children. You are spiteful and undisciplined and will never measure up to anything worthy in this life. I'm only happy your parents are dead and never got to see this. Their death weren't in vain, they're better off without you! You should have never been born…" he shouted looking down at the young child as though she were amongst the lowest form of life._

"Are you willing to let them have me too?"

_There was breathing: deep, irregular, marked by inconsistent gasps from time to time and dominated the black sea sweeping her mind up in a deadly embrace. In, out, in, out…._

_Soon a new sound joined the simple choir slow at first after witch it grew to its full intensity and finally, it stopped. _

"_Four times," An unrecognizable voice spoke as the shape of a mouth was the first to step out of the blackness and talked with a malice and audaciousness meant to poison the soul and break the spirit. The words passed and as they did so the rest of the hidden silhouette slowly appeared as though that particular patch of black was whipped clean with an old, ripped sponge that failed to clean the smudge entirely. The silhouette once again belonged to the large, well built man who was in the process of straightening this clothing. His face though, never came forward only his mouth and the wickedness of his smirk as they continued to remain hidden beneath the hem of his turban and short black bangs. "Four times now you've tried to escape and four times I have stopped, captured and __**punished**__ you accordingly. Tell me, do you long for a __**fifth**__?" he asked brutally grabbing the gasping teen's raven hair and pulling his head backwards as he simultaneously pushed against the raw flesh of his injured back with the ball of his knee. Lines upon lines, red cuts marring the skin desecrated the once pale complexion of his flesh. They had no straight path or unique direction: vertical, horizontal, diagonal. None were the same and none were alike in either length, depth, intensity of the force through which they were given and formed a vast puzzle that would bring harm to all and any movement and would require time to fully heal. The entire length of his back was raw, red and swollen and bleeding from the many cuts marring his thoroughly scared back. _

_All his clothes were missing with the upper half ripped of his body and the lower around his ankles. He knelt before a bed sweaty and exhausted gripping the sheets, clenching his teeth and responded in as much as an insolent manner as humanly possible. _

"_Care to make it six?" he said lips curling up. "Will take make you more of a man?"_

_The smile left the man's lips. He released the boy by throwing him on the floor. The then stepped back and turned around towards the second figure hidden within the shadows who bore witness to the princes current 'punishment'. "Chain him up and leave him there until he begs for mercy."_

"_Will I now?" the boy replied with words lined with pride and sarcasms._

"_Till he __**begs**__ for mercy." the man said his piece utterly disregarding the prince's question. _

_The door to the room then closed behind him leaving the prince together with the overseer. Then a new door shut drowning everything in darkness which later on was replaced by a bright blinding light of a bolt of lightning flashing in an otherwise empty and wet room no wider than 5, 5 and a half feet. Water rained down on a young body, thin and ghostly pale and grey from lying in dark, grimy cells with black, dusty and dirty hair fallen over his shoulder blades and face obstructing it completely except for the tip of his nose, mouth and chin. Both his arm were held forcefully above his head and tied around the wrists with thick metal shackles and rope that were themselves tied to a long link of chain keeping him suspended off the ground. His feet didn't even touch the ground as he stood suspended in the middle of the perfectly circular room with half a ceiling. _

_The small wooden door cracked and screeched with rusty metal strips of metal to hold it up creaks open as a guard struggled to opens due to the age of the hinges and the rust covering them like a blanket. A second bolt of lightning lights up the room revealed the second man to enter the room. _

"_Get the boy." The black haired, cold eyed overseer says stepping inside the room while a third person remains behind him by the door. The sound of his boots echoes as he walking over the stone floor; a stroke of thunder fills the skies high above. _

_The first man who entered crossed and headed for the wooden leaver and pulley system holding up the young teen. The latter did not need to look up; he knew them by tone of voice and style of walking._

"_A shame you'll not be with for much longer. Today's the day." Pulling the lever down the rope lowered and the boy's feet touched the ground. He wobbled for a second or two until his legs remembered how to function properly and the strain of being held by his wrists alone wore off and his muscles relaxed. His arms dropped in front of his body still tied together as both his hands took firm hold of a part of the thick rope. _

_The end of the rope which held him imprisoned was separated from the main pulley system by the same man who then released it and let it drop to the floor in front of the prince's feet. Afterwards he moved to gather the coiled piece of rope when a shift kick to the knee brought him down faster than he could imagine from such a weakened prisoner. The coil of rope around his throat cut off his air supply after which it got tighter and tighter. Struggling did not help and neither did his failed call for help. _

_The second man came running hitting the door hard with his shoulder and pushing it open so that it banged loudly against the wall, but it was still too late to provide necessary assistance. The teen reacted in time and pushed the man forward making him hit the front of the pulley's wheel with his forehead hard enough for it split open and incapacitate him for just the right mount of time he needed. Once done he turned taking the rope with him. His hands grabbed the second man's right arm as the latter had been barely moments away from reaching him. He moved fast and precise; he'd rehearsed this exact scenario many times over in his head for the past 3 days. There would be no mistake whatsoever. _

_The drawn out knife fell to the floor with a cling before the guard's arm was pulled back and ripped from its socket with a loud pop in the same easy move he'd seen performed time and time again on the various prisoner during his two year stay. _

_As the man bends over in pain the young prince then lets go of the man's hand and uses his upper body strength to push against the man and throw him to the floor; his knee connected with his jaw bone earning him the time needed to pick himself up and cut the rope from around his wrists. Afterwards he directed his entire attention towards the guard's throat which he then cut in one precise move. The wound was deep, not meant to be a mere scratch to incapacitate, and bled out as soon as the metal of the sharp blade left his flesh. The man started to choke and suffocate as more blood filled his trachea drowning his lungs. His life fade away within the following seconds as the cold shower soaked everything the large drops touched. Vlad was soaked to the bone: his raven sticking to his face, shoulder and back as he stopped in front of the pulley and the figure laying at it feet. Each drop to hit the stone floor fell with a distinctive sound that joined together into a single entity and sound. The latter changed in pitch only after the boy raised his right arm bending the elbow so that his lower arm stood parallel to the ground and flicking his wrist as to bring the edges of the highly sharp blade up. They cut through each and every droplet that dared to get too close and even touch. His head rose enough to expose the contours of his mouth as a flash of lightning illuminated the otherwise darkened cell room. _

"_A shame," he said in a very emotionless tone. "You won't get to watch them die."_

_His second victim would not be his last that day. After almost two years at their mercy he would finally get his well deserved revenge. It would not last and the repercussions of such an act would surely not go unpunished should he fail, but all that didn't matter as the flash of light reflected a darkness in his deep ocean eyes framed by inky black strands._

_His thin pale lips curled in a gratified, malevolent smirk._

"Draculina help me."

"_It' good isn't it? Isn't it?" the same ocean blue eye boy hissed in a fit of rage, hatred dripping like venom from his tongue with a strong undertone of pleasure hidden beneath as he then chuckled in utter delight. Both his writs held the wounds caused by the rope had been removed and his shackles loosened a bit. However, they had eaten away at the skin of his wrists drawing blood and causing pain from being so tight. The link of chain holding them together was wrapped around another man's throat choking the life out of him as the teen forced his head back in an unnatural position while at the same time put pressure with his left knee on the middle of his spine. Two other men, all three guards placed around the tower, three miserable and retched souls forever tormenting and haunting his sleepless nights faired no better. Both were recent kills as their blood stained the dirty floor and continued to flow from their corpses. One had a broken neck crushed in between the steal doorframe and the door itself while the other presented multiple stab wounds to his chest and throat and even had the knife used to murder him sticking out of the latter. The prince's own body was battered, tired and bruised from the fight, knuckles and hands stained in blood not his own, hair and clothes a mess and eyes shinning with madness lost in the fulfillment of the kill. A devilish smirk, a wicked grin marred his pale lips. Each time he spoke he pulled the chain tighter, forced the rusty links into the man's fragile flesh. The latter's face was quickly turning blue from lack of oxygen, his mouth hung wide open like that of a fish struggling out of water. "I'll make sure you learn to love it." with a quick and accurate tug Vlad twisted the man's throat rejoicing in the sound of his spine breaking. It was done; he was finally free of them. _

"Seras help me. Save me."

_Vlad's shoulders began to quiver, lips curving upwards in a different sort of grin as he started to laugh. In the darkness of the ill lit hallway, surrounded but death, blood and decay, he laughed bitterly at the irony which had become his life._

Seras's body tensed turning as hard as a rock beneath Vlad's head, her legs pushed against the bed as she began to twist her body and her mouth opened and closed with whimpers of pain and more droplets of blood which began leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "No…" It was all her unconscious mind could come up with.

"_Mom!" a child's last cry for love._

"_Father!" a child's last cry for hope._

_Laughter: degenerate, evil, mixed voices and tones._

"_Stay with me." a deep baritone, gentle and saving._

"_Father!" hope lost._

"_Draculina." Meaningful and shooting._

"_She killed him!" hatred and anger shining in dull azure eyes._

"Haahhh…" Seras whimpered with her mouth partially open and entire body shaking profusely, violently. It hurt, it hurt so much. The pale blush color of the sheets turned crimson red all around her body much like a halo the more raw liquid seeped right out of her. It stained her skin, her nightgown and then seeped into the soft fabric of the covers and the mattress beneath as it dripped from her hands, arms, torso, hair and face almost like the spray of water from a warm shower. Her eyes were crimson, no just her irises but the surrounding sclera as well: both bled out. They were no longer simple tears of blood imply, but real blood leaking out of her. The liquid mixed with the one already sliding down her face and stained the pale limb holding the left side of her face gently.

"Save me. Seras save me."

Seras's eyes finally blinked as her senses returned with a vengeance and she woke to the sound of a large bang, a deep intake of breath and a haunting voice whispering in the distance.

_Salvează-mă._

Both the sent and cold touch of blood was gone and in their place she felt moist strands of green grass and the fresh smell of a forest. The sound of crickets singing filled her ears and the gentle breeze of the upcoming night caressed her skin. She lay in a field at the edge of a forest sprawled out in the same position she had been in on the bed but with a clean nightgown this time and a somewhat clearer mind. Thin straps covered her shoulders as the fabric hugged her body to perfection and the hem ended a little under the middle of her thighs. The sky above her was clear with various orange streaks from the descending sun as it moved closer and closer towards the horizon.

Seras stayed there motionless watching the clouds move above her. Her heart beat slow and regular, though still at a much lower rate than a normal human's. Her fingers twitched every once and a while as she moved them over the moist strands and played with them. Her long golden hair shined in the orange glow of the sun.

_"What do you fear draculina?"_

The haunting voice surrounded her like a warm halo. S closes her eyes offering herself up to the soft, alluring tone before taking in a deep breath and pushing herself up in a seated position. She pulled her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around them and simply stood there scanning her surroundings. The clearing she sat in was on a small hill at the edge of a vast forest stretching for miles behind her. The breeze got stronger now that she was sitting up and played with her long locks and bangs pushing them away from her pale face and deep crimson eyes. A vast open field stretched out before her for many miles, a dirt road crossing it in the middle, while a large mountain rage could be seen in the distance as if sitting on top of the horizon. The road curved like a snake from one side of the other.

_"Seras…"_

Her mind's eye caught a glimpse of a wooden carriage pulled by two dark brown horses just as her name was whispered, but it passed so fast it was over before she had to analyze it properly.

A twig snapped close behind her amongst the old threes of the forest, the sound loud enough to be heard, had the young vampire been paying attention instead of keeping her eyes locked on the road and the image she had just witnessed. The twig snapped a second time and with it several smaller ones as well along with the sound of crashing grass as if someone came running out of the forest at high speed.

The rhythm of Seras's heart increased caught in the sudden adrenalin rush the approaching figure induced and then all but stopped for a moment as the latter came to a sudden halt behind her. Warm breath hit the back of her neck and her eyelids dropped, rosy lips parting in a soft and silent exhale. The figure was so close she could almost feel the strange touch on her skin and the sound the wind made running through its hair.

Slowly she reopened her eyes and turned to look over her shoulder where she bore witness to the monstrous form of a large wolf unlike any she had ever seen: a huge creature closely resembling a greyhound in body shape, lean and muscular, yet with dark fur, fur darker than charcoal, thick and smoother to the touch than the purest of silk; a beautiful coat that shone in the warmth of the sun. It had long legs and large paws, a long tail elegantly that began to move from side, broad shoulders and a large torso that moved with each breath the creature took sniffing her gently. Two pointy ears grazed the top of his head while eight fiery eyes rested on his face. His jaws were shut, but his two front canines still stood out from under his lower lips. Sharp claws lay extended from each of the 4 pads scratching at the soft soil beneath them. His fur was a simple and beautiful coat that seemed far longer in the front over his forehead and the right side of his face more than the left while symmetrically going down from his throat to his shoulders and thus covering the rest of his fur in those particular regions.

The beast stood there perfectly still on all fours letting the wind caress his body and rattle his fur and the longer stands covering his head and muscular throat. The very tip of his black nose was perfectly aligned with her left shoulder while all 8 pairs of blood red orbs reflected her beautiful face as the two starred at each other in perfect silence. The hound then lowered his head making first contact as he pushes the side of left side of his into her chest; his chest rumbling softly.

"Have you forgotten so easily?" The voice fills her mind, deep, rich and soothing.

_A large paw appeared first out of the darkness closely followed by a strong, muscular leg, broad shoulders and a strong neck supporting the wolf like head with eight crimson eyes all glowing a fiery glow. The coat of midnight black fur shone in the dim light provided by the small yet warm fire. _

"Am I so easily forgotten little one?"

_Crimson tears ran down her cheeks loosing themselves into the mass of ebony hair, her grip tightening around his the wolf's lower jaw._

_"Don't lie to me." Her face pressed into his forehead while her right arm moved up to grab his left ear. A small pause followed till the vampire replied back. One word was enough._

_"Do you fell me? Inside of you?" She pulls him even closer while moving her right hand over his left ear at the same time._

_"I love you…."_

"Darkness is a part of you Childe, a part never to be forgotten."

_The draculina never resembled the ancient vampire more than in that moment there as she impaled the creatures and their blood rained down on her like a waterfall. And as she got up from her knees, the crimson ran down the right side of her face framing her black eye, turning her golden locks red and then continuing its journey down her throat, shoulder and chest._

_A mass of darkness appeared in the form of a gray cloak before the draculina. It was removed in one swift motion and pushed aside revealing…_

"Do you remember? Blood is the currency of life, the money of the soul. It is simply the means by which lives are sold and traded. To drink someone's blood is to take their life for yourself."

_A woman with long platinum hair recited the same words while atop a building surrounded by more burning buildings, blood, death and gore. The voices overlapped themselves._

"You know who I am little one."

_Seras…Seras Victoria." A large gauntlet patted her head affectionately, pride lining inside the man's voice as he called her given name for the very first time._

"_Please, please take the blood into you. Don't; don't close your eyes draculina. Don't close your eyes." The sweet warmth of his breath caressed her lips and chin so gently and tenderly despite the pain concealed within each word. 'Don't close your eyes'…Don't die draculina._

_The kiss shared was broken and he heard the smallest of gasps come from her as her head tilted backwards and he was compelled to follow her movement with his own head as not to lose the close proximity between his mouth and hers. Her hands clenched his as he firmly yet gently held them above her head pushing into her body with slow and gentle trusts._

"And you know who you are draculina."

_"Nosferatu do not fear the light. To become true Nosferatu…" Alucard spoke in a gentle, soothing tone to the person sitting directly opposite of him. Her flesh was as bare as the day she was born and long, flowing golden hair cascaded down her back and the front of her shoulders covering the outer rims of her breasts and pooling around her partially sheet covered hips and legs. Her arms lay motionless in her lap while her legs were crossed Indian style in front of her and exposed from the knees down. Her eyes followed the movement of the man's lips with the utmost interest as he in turn sat in a similar position before her: his pants black, shirt white, gloves gone and right leg held up to his chest while the left was down._

_"Nosferatu?" she interrupts him by repeating the word most innocently as if hearing it for the very first time. The expression on her face was of both curiosity and confusion._

_"You my draculina." He whispers softly in a gentle and patient tone. 4 days. After 4 days he had finally managed to get her to wake and open those beautiful crimson orbs starring so widely and innocently at him, and with the utmost trust; soaking up each and every word he had to say like a sponge. A large uneven scar, about 2 cm in width and approximately 6 in length marred the skin of her chest over her heart._

_The vampire raises his right arm brushing a few of the golden strands from the left side of her face and pushing them behind her ear before cupping her face and stroking her cheekbone with his thumb in a loving manner. Seras smiled kind of innocent children showed when utterly ecstatic about a new present they had just received. Her rose colored lips parted exposing her glistening, pearl white fangs as her cheekbones moved up with her smile and her eyelids dropped in pure happiness. Unfortunately, despite the sheer beauty of the moment, heartache, sadness and regret overcame Alucard's featured as he watched his Childe enjoy the simple pleasure his mere touch could offer. Yet even so he managed to smile back, nothing but a tiny upward curl of the lips, as she reopened her eyes to look at him unaware of the thought plaguing him. _

_"Nosferatu…" she whispers it seeking acknowledgement within his eyes._

_"Yes, Nosferatu." He replies. "I will teach you all._

_"Master…" She smiles even more beautifully._

"Master…" Seras whispers the moment the last image leaves her mind and the tender rumble of the creature's chest echoes sin her ears. She raises her right arm placing her hand over his muzzle. Afterwards she moves it slowly until she reaches the space between his many eyes and forehead. The three smaller pairs of eyes close without delay disappearing beneath a fine layer of fur in a gesture he hopped she would remember. She does, and he his rewarded with a small smile and a light and content sigh as she leans her forehead without fear against his.

She then raises her other hand to touch him but stops at the strange change befalling it. Though the shape and color had returned there were allow distinct black markings running along its entire length like the snakelike body of a grape vine with its many side branches.

By the time she turned her attention back on the hound he was all but gone; his body fading conglomerate of shadows slowly dissipated by the wind. His head was the last to remain with the twin pools of freshly drawn blood to stare into her pleading face as she mouthed 'no' just before they too started to slip through her fingers. Her voice joined that of the wind as she got on her knees and brought their heads closer together. Black and golden strands mixed together dancing in the soft breeze. Her sole reply was a light chuckle before the solid mass between her fingers vanished completely causing both her hands was well as her forehead to drop.

A last trace of black mist swirled around her hand in a last lingering touch that made the marking on her left arm glow red for a moment.

The draculina's eyes followed the swirling tendril as it surrounded her and then headed down the hill in the direction of the dirt road in the distance.

_Take care of me…_

New movement in the distance caught her attention and her eyes fell on the same two dark brown horses and dark wood wagon she'd seen before in her mind's eye.

One mad steered the carriage, a second sat within it and a third rode along side on a grey stallion with black main and tail. Their clothing was simple yet each man hid beneath them pieces of armor and chainmail. They were soldiers escorting a prisoner and not simple peasants, a prisoner who still remained out of sight. A grayish-black dog, a half-breed more likely, accompanied the men sniffing the ground as he walk in front of the men and their horses. It was he who picked up the distinct scent amongst the many familiar elements of the forest and field and ran towards the new scent; towards Seras's position.

"Stupid dog." She heard the bearded man on the grey horse say in annoyance following the dog's movement with his eyes as he wandered of and started to run up the hill. "He's as useless as the brat."

He continued as he turned his horse around in order to walk to the back of the wagon. "Isn't that right little prince?" His lips curled under the hood covering his face as his left foot moved forward hitting whatever was behind the wagon to fall onto the dusty and partially muddy ground below with a thump. A body thus came into sight in between the horses legs as the latter was turned once more by his satisfied master and took up his former position by the side of the cart. The prisoner's arms were tied at the wrists with a long rope which in turn was tied at the other end to the back of the wagon. The clothing he wore was simple: black shoes with dark brown pants and dark green towards brown long sleeved top with a matching hood over his head.

The boy managed to partially get up but seeing as the horse pulling the cart never stopped moving in the first place, he was pulled back into the mud once again and dragged behind the wagon as the driver had urged the horses to move forward. More laughter followed as the other two men joined in while the boy continued to struggle to get up without falling again. Strands of black hair fell out from behind the brown hood as he used his arms to pull against the rope tying him and use it as leverage to lift himself up. He quickly turned his body sideways and brought his legs up to his chest by pushing against the soil with his feet and thus managing to finally get up. Still the horses continued to move making him loose his footing twice and fall to his knees before he was finally able to get his proper footing fast enough and keep up with the beasts. He was tired, dirty and dusty and had been forced to walk the entire day.

"Get up your majesty or stay behind." The brown haired driver said urging his horse to walk even faster.

"A prince?" the man sitting inside the wagon, his hair a pale blond in color, asked in disbelief sparring a glance from his wooden carving towards the prisoner in question. It was a new piece of information he had not been informed of upon departure. To him the boy was just another retch of a prisoner he had to accompany.

"Is that why it takes three grown men to escort a boy to Edirne?"

To that the driver sneers while the other replies in his place. "Idiot. He killed 7 people trying to escape last night."

"He butchered them." The driver added. "Broke their necks, smashed their skulls and even cut a man's heart out from all the times he stabbed him in the chest. And all he did was laugh the entire time."

"I heard he drank some of his blood forehand." The rider on the grey horse with light yellow hair then said and his words spoke of pure revulsion. His gaze turned towards the light brown haired man in the wagon. "By all means you're welcome to move closer but I'd consider it before going anywhere near that demon."

With a kick to his horse's side the soldier urged the creature to sprint into a light gallop and leave the group in search of the dog who had already reached the clearing and was staring at the golden haired woman with much interest, curious chocolate brown eyes and a happily wagging tail. Seras kept the creature's gaze, bangs falling over her eyes as the breeze began to lessen in strength, and held perfectly still as the dog carefully approached her left knee.

"Where the hell did that useless mutt go?" the soldier cursed scanning the surrounding area. His horse had stopped walking at the foot of the small hill yet all he could see was green grass and the threes. Then, without warning, he heard the dog cry out as if attacked and finally saw his grey body emerge out of the tall grass closer to the edge of the hill. He was not alone.

The horse neighed roughly raising his head up high and moving back spooked until his rider took control of the situation steadying him.

"Wolf" he cries alerting the rest while reaching for his sword. The wolf and the dog bit and clawed at each other drawing blood with the wolf's larger body having the advantage over the skinny dog. The grey stallion neighed anew and continued to back up despite the man's insistence he stay still. In the end he gave up on controlling the beast and turned him around galloping back towards the wagon. The fight was over by the time he reached. The dog gave up his last dying breath as the pitch black wolf crushed his throat between its powerful jaws. A trail of blood smeared the green grass in a downward path from the hill's edge. All three pairs of eyes watched the crimson liquid coat the wolf's long pink tongue as he licked his chops before turning his attention in their direction. Still the quantity was too much and a good amount dripped as tiny rivulets as the creature growled like a demon and its eyes glowed a matching red.

The remaining two horses panicked releasing high pitched neighs. The driver had to pull hard on the reins to keep the animal in place as they nervously paced from left to right bumping into each other.

The change had come suddenly without much thought or control, but it was entirely driven out of anger. Anger towards those who…

"Get on!" the driver screamed at the boy getting him to move. Regrettably, the youngest of the soldiers panicked and took the rains from him before he could act and before Vlad could get on. The latter hit the frightened horses backs making them jerk forward and pull the wagon behind them just as the boy had reached the back of the wagon and had placed his bound hands on it to get on. Thus his left leg lost its footing on the wooden rim and he fell flat on his stomach hitting his forehead against the hard wood in the process. The second impact with the ground knocked his hood off his head and the air out of the lungs revealing his pale featured and messy raven hair. Blue eyes blinked twice in an effort to stay open and fight the dizziness and headache. Groaning in pain he raises his head and upper body just in time to lock eyes with the deadly predator.

"Hold the beasts!" the bearded man shouted forcing his horse forward and in between the wolf and his prey as the driver struck the color haired man in the gut with his elbow regaining control over the reins and the two dark brown horses. Despite his distain for the boy order were order and he was not about to be the one to inform his master of their failure. Many men had lost their heads over less.

"Get him!" he screams directly at the younger colleague. "Now! Get him up already!"

It was already too late as the wolf charged on teeth at the ready. The grey stallion neighed hoarsely raising his head in defiance of the attack and then raising himself on his hind legs neighing anew as the wolf remained unimpressed. His hooves crashed down on the soil mm away from hitting the wolf over the head, but the latter pulled away at the very last second before being forcefully pushed back by the snarling angry horse.

"Damn it you are useless!" the driver curses turning to look behind his shoulder at the blond haired man. He had still not gotten up from the _light_ blow to the stomach while the boy was nowhere in sight. Thus, with another curse, he tied the reins securing the horses and reached over and under his seat with his left hand. Several weapons lay there hidden under a leather tarp, amongst them a bow and a quilt of arrows as well as three more swords, a coil of rope and two knives.

The man was an excellent shot as proven by his first arrow which hit the ground next to the wolf's front left paw serving as a decoy. The impact startled the already irritated horse who snarled loudly stomping his front feet at the creature. And amongst all the confusion and noise the second arrow had a clear path and hit the wolf's left shoulder embedding itself deeply into the muscle and grazing the bone with the sharp metal tip.

The creature yelps in pain jerking backwards and looses track of the grey horses position that attacked heads on and stomps his hooves into its chest without a second to spare. The rider moved in for the kill ready to claim his prize when a third and final arrow stopped him.

"Leave it!" the archer demands lowering his bow.

"Are you mad? It's still alive." The dark haired man confronts him turning his horse around. "I want it!"

"We have orders! One damn wolf is as good as the next and if one came out more are likely to follow with the sun going down. Stay on you'll do so on your own."

"He's right we should…" the third soldier joined in the conversation approaching the driver who was still speaking with the rider only to be struck down by the latter. The blow to the back of his head sent him falling to his knees on the pile of weapons.

"Be quite!" he hisses going so far as to point the tip of his sword at his throat. "You can't do a fucking thing right! Fail again and I'll tie you to the wagon himself and put the boy in your place. Now make yourself useful and get his ass up here."

Afterwards, he put his weapon away and retook his place by the side of the wagon giving of a another low curse as his thoughts returned to the prize he'd lost; a shame considering such beautiful, black fur. What a pelt it would have made.

The wolf lay there panting on its right side whimpering in pain with ribs broken and an arrow sticking out of left its shoulder. Red eyes followed the moving cart as the space between them grew more and more. Eventually the creature eventually got up, ribs cracking from the movement, and struggled to lick some of the blood oozing out its wound.

/Master…/ a soft voice called as the wolf whimpered anew.

Three good legs, though trembling, held her up, but it would take a longer amount of time for her inflicted injuries heal enough for her to be able to move more freely.

The wheels of the wagon creaked, the sound of the horses breathing and that of their hooves moving over the dirt road more than compensated for the utter silence concerning the three grown men and the young 14 year old teen sitting at the very back of the wagon. He had his knees drawn up to his chest, the left a little bit closer than the right, and his arms resting in his lap. His wrists were still bound and the remaining length of the rope was coiled in front of his left foot. He kept his covered head down covered by the hood and kept it down as a few long raven strands swayed in front of his head with the movement of the wagon. His tongue brushed over his lips on the left side licking up the blood that had trickled from the cut on his forehead. The movement was slow and deliberate and utterly unnerving for the yellow haired soldier watching him out of the corner of his eyes. Then, as if sensing the man's eyes on him, he curved his lips in a grin and did it again, this time turning ever so slightly in his direction so that the blue of his eyes peered from under the raven curtain of his bangs and the shadow cast by the hem of the hood. Almost over hour and a half had passed since the encounter with the black wolf and night had already descended upon the land; the surrounding wall of a medium size village came into in the distance.

"How much longer?" the young soldier asks those behind him turning his gaze away from the boy and towards that of the rider. Not one had the child moved or spoken other than to lick the blood of his lips time and time again as the flow of blood didn't seem too eager to stop.

"Just keep watching him. We'll have to stop for the night." The driver replied. It would be alt least another 15 min their horses passed though the open gate and headed for the tavern and its stable stables. All the while the prince paid them no heed as the wagon continued on its current path before stopping in front of the stable door. There he stood up and jumped down without a care utterly disregarding his watcher's outburst for him to stop. He kept his gaze on his feet while his hands fidgeted with the rope around his wrists, rope he long ago untied but kept in place as not to arouse suspicion.

The village was mostly dead silent and dark with the exception of a few random torches lit throughout the perimeter of the village as to offer some measure of protection. The haunting sound of howling wolves filled the night air as they were carried by the wind from the forest in the distance.

Vlad raises his head turning towards the source of the sound while the other three men also dismounted surrounding the wagon. The wall surrounding the village was yet to be finished so even if the main door closed, the houses still remained vulnerable. Several other houses fared no better and many still bore the tell-tale sighs of charred wood from a large scale fire sometime in the immediate past.

"Get his inside and move the horses." The black haired rider told the blond haired one while petting his horse on the neck in reassurance.

"And stay with him." The archer added before leaving the small group first. "We'll secure rooms at the in."

Though displeased by the tone the others used on him, the young soldier remained quite and did as told. He circled the body of the wagon and grabbed the young teen somewhat roughly by the small piece of cloth draped over his shoulders pushing him forward towards the stable's main door. "Get moving."

The doors closed behind them, but in the darkness, no one noticed the bloody orbs following their every move. The distinct lean body shape of the creature moved swiftly and silently and undetected in between the houses while approaching the stables. Clawed paws left their mark on the soft soil and a low growl left her chest; white fangs shone in the flicker of light provided by one of the torches. The creature watched and waited until all three men disappeared into the tavern. A single round droplet fell from the sky landing on the wolf's black nose as the main a vanguard of the few hundreds of thousand soon to follow.

The wind picked up soon after howling and screeched against the wood walls and roof of the stable causing them to shake, especially the thin wooden blind covering the glassless windows. Lightning bolt cut through the night sky with deadly accuracy much a like a deadly whip in the hands of an experienced wielder while thunder roared with fierce determination and malice as if ripping the heavens apart. The inside layout of the building was simple yet efficient with two rows of five stalls on each side and a main dirt path between them. Stack of hay littered the left corner along with the second floor along with the ladder leading up it that was leaning in front of the corner in question. Close to the right corner were a small stone fireplace and two chairs while the corner itself held several saddles grouped on a bench and on the wall itself, and a small square cupboard filled with blankets. On the opposite side of the stable, immediately adjacent to the twin doors, were many reins hanging from large nails on the walls as well as other horse related items and some clothes. The door connecting the stable itself with the tavern stood about a foot's distance form the fireplace. The floor was mostly raw earth with the exception of a small portion directly in front of the door, about 1 meter in width for the entire length of the stable. Two oil lamps lit up the building, one hanging from a beam close to the ladder and a second hanging from the bean conveniently located at the very middle of the roof.

"I really want to see you try and get out of here."

The smirking blond haired man said as he tied the free end of the rope around the small post at the end of the 3rd box stall on the right side of the stable. He was hoping to provoke the boy into lashing out but was instead met only with silence and the prince's back. Then, just as the man was about to leave, he peered over his left shoulder and spoke up.

"Get me food." He ordered as any superior would a mere subordinate with a hard tone and piercing gaze, ocean blue eyes narrowed and unquestionable. "You're good at that."  
>"And a street rat doesn't need to eat." The man replied turning his back on only to be stopped a second time.<p>

"Hurry up then. I wouldn't want you wasting precious time."

"Why you little…"

The man turned just as he had been a few cm from reaching the door handle. He turned ready to march up the teen and strike him down when the connecting door open revealing a young woman with pale green eyes, waist long chocolate brown hair tied in the back in a low ponytail and braid wearing simple light blue clothes, a cream colored shall over her shoulders and a long grey apron with two large pockets in the front on either side. She carried a small trey in her hands and on it was a bowl of fresh, warm soup and half a piece of bread.

"I've brought the boy's food. And your table's ready sir." The servant girl spoke in light tone.

"Take it back." The man raised his voice to ensure the _prisoner_ hear him correctly. "He's already ate."

"But I was told to bring it here. It has been paid for."

"And I said he ate!" the soldier shouted startling the tiny woman and knocking the bowl of soup from her tray with his right hand so that it fell to the floor spilling its contents on the wooden boards. "And you have no say in the matter peasant girl. You will do as you're told."

When done he took the bread from her and took a bite in front of her before pushing her to the side and heading for the open door.

"Leave him." He orders just before pulling the door behind him. The latter doesn't close all the way, only about 3/4 of the distance.

"Yes. Yes of course." She replies quickly and submissively kneeling to gather the discarded bowl off the floor. She then makes her way back to the door but not before sparing two careful glances: one at the door and the other at the raven haired teen. Making sure no one was watching she pulls out a small packet wrapped in with cloth from her left pocket and hides it amongst some of the smaller stacks of hey left of the door. Her task complete she offers him a kind smile, walks out and closes the door behind her locking him in.

Vlad watched her move without uttering a single syllable, yet once he was alone he closed his eyes and sighed, not in relief, but annoyance regarding his own actions. Sometimes starving wasn't the best option regardless of much they pissed him off. And right now he had been hoping for a scrap of food for the last three days.

Untying his hands he lets the rope drop in front of his feet like a dead snake finally free of the accursed thing; at least of one night. The roaring thunder increased in strength above his head and with it the unmistakable sound of pouring rain hitting the outer structure of the sable followed. The drops beat and pounded against the roof and walls without mercy and he had comfort in at least one aspect: a dry and warm night. And, with just a hint of extra luck, he might even succeed in having a meal as well, however insignificant it might be.

He waited for several minutes more before retrieving the packet making sure no one would come and take it from him. Inside he found a fresh piece of cheese, a little bit of dried meat and a loaf of bread smaller than the one he'd seen on the tray but warm and soft and right out of the oven; far better than a large, staler piece and a cold bowl of soup. His stomach would be full for at least one night.

Almost three hours later the storm was still fiercely raging on. The oil in both lamps was almost gone making them cast a fait orange glow. Everything else was trapped in darkness and silence with nothing but the horses breathing or the sound of them chewing hay.

It was for this precise reason that the sudden bang caused by the connecting door opening startled the horses making them all neigh. The blond man, too drunk to even hold himself up properly, stepped inside; a half full bottle in his right hand. The other two had retreated to their rooms for the night while he had been, yet again, charged with _caring_ for the boy. He swayed on his feet almost loosing his footing twice from lack of balance, intoxicated mind and disoriented vision.

Regaining his footing he started laughing for no apparent reason before raising the bottle to his lips to drink some more. He drank every last drop in messy fashion wetting his front with more than half of the remaining reddish liquid.

"You in here boy?" he asks out loud in between a second fit of laugher and another drink.

The prince did not answer. After fishing his meal in peace he returned to the box stall and indulged himself with a few hours of blissful sleep, peace and quite from the entire world so wound up against him. He was finally able to relax for a short period of time without having to be on constant alert. He retied the rope as to avoid unnecessary _'discussions'_ in the upcoming day, but after a whole day of being dragged behind a moving wagon, he was so tired he fell asleep as soon as his eyelids dropped and his head settled on the clean pile of hay. Somehow, not even the sound of the brutally opened door and the shouting man disturbed him.

"Well? Are here? Are you?" each passing second made the man angrier. He raises his voice calling out louder and threw the pitcher into the closest wall staining the wood with the remains of what had once been his wine. The sound of breaking glass startled the 3 horses yet again though not as much as that of the door.

"Where is that…that demon of a child…" he could barely speak properly without stuttering over his own words as he questioned either himself or the horses in his drunken state and struggled to place one foot in front of the other. Reaching the first stall he used it to help him walk until he reached the third where he grabbed hold of the rope and almost crashed into the small wooden door keeping it closed. Vlad lay sound asleep on his right side, a peaceful and content expression on his face, his hood down and his shoulder long raven hair spilled around his head like a black halo.

"Hey!" the man's anger grew and he became more upset from both the lack of answer on behalf of the boy as well as the two failed attempts at opening the simple lock on the door. Thus he just tugged at the rope pulling the boy up and waking him as his head came close to crashing into the door.

"Awake…awake now…are we?" once again he laughed without an ounce of self-control. He pulled the boy again causing him to hit his left shoulder into the frame of the stall and fall at the man's feet.

"Good. Good to know your place." He chuckled. "At my feet, place at my feet. Why should I, why should I look after you and not them? Why should I give a damn about a filthy blood drinker like you?"

The third time around at tugging the rope wasn't as successful as Vlad fought back and moved before the man could. As such, it was the soldier who hit the door this time, his stomach and chest crashing into it making him loose his footing and almost topple over its upper edge and fall into the stall head first. Enraged the man began hitting the door with his left hand, then his right and still he could not get it to move. The latch was simple to open, but he was beyond coherent thought. The door fueled his boiling anger tenfold.

"Think this will protect you boy? Do you?" kick after kick made the wooden door shutter. On and on he kept shouting and raising his voice until the mere effort of it drained his intoxicated body and his reddened and sweaty forehead dropped.

His uncontrollable outbursts put the horses in a high state of alert causing them to neigh and move without pause inside their individual boxes, the sound of their hooves like that of drums against the man's raging headache and sore ears.

"Quite…quite!"

His attention turned to the poor creatures forgetting the boy. "Fucking creature be quite! Quite! Be q…" he never got to finish the whole sentence as the rope he held in his right hand was wrenched from his grip and coiled around his throat chocking him without delay. The teen held in a strong and secure grip with his right leg up pressing into the frame of the door for added support as he continued to pull in a very precise and deadly manner.

"I don't need protection." He tells the man in a very confident tone. "Not from a drunken rat like you."

He pulls and pulls tightening the rope's hold on him throat, but just before he cut off the man's entire air supply and the latter's face turned blue, he slackened his grip and let his leg drop. The soldier struggled to breathe and hold himself up by leaning against the door with his left arm; he coughed many times over slowly regaining color into his cheeks.

"Now get out." Vlad freed his hands throwing the rope away. "You reek of the filth you associate yourself with." His words showed no mercy. 2 years background in a sadistic dungeon was everything compared to a miserable, pathetic, drunken retch of a human being incapable of holding his liquor like a man. He neither meant nothing nor was he in any way a threat and something to worry about.

"I'll k…kill you….k…for this…"

"Prove it." Vlad demands, a fact that could not be more clear or evident than in the murderous look he was giving the man; a look that screamed 'I dare you to try', a look belonging to a man high on a pedestal looking down on those worshiping him as though their worth was far less than that of insects meant to be stomped and crushed.

The soldier backed away from the door and kicked it hard somehow finally succeeding in opening it by ripping the small lock. His hands held onto the frame of the door on either side to steady himself from falling.

"When I'm done….done I…"

"What?" the prince matched his tone with a condescending curl of his lips. "You'll show me how to fall on my face?" holding his ground, his back to the end of the stall, he made effort to reach for the concealed weapon he'd stashed beneath his shirt. The face off was long coming and would finally take place then and there,

The man snarled foolishly launching himself forward without thing think through. He crashed head first into the stable wall as the teen had proven himself smarter. By delaying the draw of his weapon he provoked the man into acting and then moved aside in the last second. He hurried passed the fallen body and almost made it out of the stall when the man's hand grabbed hold of the lower part of his shirt attempting to stop him. Fortunately, the knife was now at hand and Vlad used it to slash the soldier over his left cheek with such precision he would have taken his eye out had his aim been an inch higher. Instead he cut the flesh just above his cheek bone until the tip of the blade reached the inner side of his nose on the same side. Blood seeped out of the wound all over his face and hand as he placed the latter over his face in sheer reflex. A good amount trickled in between his fingers dripping onto the floor in front of the prince's feet.

"Blood drinker or not, your blood I wouldn't touch had I to choose between it and the shit of these horses." It was finally his time to laugh and laugh he did enjoying the moment of poser; revenge was indeed a fine drug. "It's just a cut _boy. _You should deal with it." As he spoke he backed up into the stall once more. "Is that not what you preach?"

"Ahh!" the man shouted in anger launching himself forward with such force he finally managed to break down the stall door by ripping the already weakened hinges. The impact was hard on his knees as both he and the wooden piece hit the floor trapping his right arm under him and the door. The sparkle of amusement regarding the man left the prince's eyes at the pathetic display of power. Whatever glorious moment and promise of satisfaction he found at first and thought to relish in a while longer was gone. There was nothing before him other a drunken not worth his time. No more, no less and nothing of worth.

Vlad relaxes his stance and shoulders while still looking as man struggled to free his hand and wipe the hindering blood off his face. Blood was staining his clothes by now and most of the wood of the door.

"You are not worth it." They would be the last words he would utter to the soldier and disappointment lingered in each one.

About a foot separated the two now that the boy had managed to pass him and exit the stall, but it could have easily been a mile, two or three. There was nothing glorious in waiting for a wreck to fix itself just so he could struggle to stand and wobble on his own two feet.

"You did this….you d…" the drunken man kept on saying over and over before he finally stood without help cradling a sprained wrist and a bruised arm. "He should have fed you…fed you to the damned wolf. He should have…"

Never once did the teen open his mouth in reply, he held onto his vow of promise. As the word wolf was repeated anew a massive bolt of lightning and a powerful gust of wind hit the roof of the stable all at once, the latter of the two forcing the main doors open. The light generated was so bright it lit up the entire stable for about a second. Thunder pierced the heavens as though a volcano had just erupted.

The worst was yet to come. As the flash of light erupted into light it cast a large menacing shadow of a 4 legged creature whose low pitched growl, a demon loose from the pits of hell itself, echoed in the aftermath of the thunder. Pitch black fur shone in the light of the next two bolts to follow and with it the tell tale signs of a broken arrow striking out of the creature's left shoulder. Demonic red eyes peered into the stable, irises glowing towards orange because of the powerful flashes of white light before darkening once they faded, and long, white teeth and fangs stood out in contrast to the black of its fur as the creature growled. The man had cried wolf and thus the wolf appeared.

The sound of pouring rain made little difference in hiding the low rumble emanating from the creature's chest as air passed both through it and along her vocal cords. Her black fur was wet, clinging to her body like a second skin while dripping water onto the floor as she took that one step forward entering the stable. Step by step, her claws extended ranking fine lines into the soft soil. The distance between her and the door grew, the distance between predator and prey decreased.

The horses neighed in fear, their eyes wide and alert and ears moving from side to side as they could not stand still inside their boxes and instead paced continuously. As another bolt of lightning flashed in the distance carrying the rumble of thunder with it the wolf passed the first row of stalls and growled louder, more ferociously. The closest horse was the grey stallion who once again took the wolf's presence as a dangerous threat and thus neighed almost growling himself as he raised himself on his hind legs and then hit the stable door with his hooves. His eyes followed nothing but the black creature.

The prince did not move a muscle as blue eyes attempted to look to the left in the direction from where the wolf had approached, but the drunken man was a different story all together. The man struggled to his knees making as much noise as possible. He let go of his injured arm cursing and spitting on the floor. He acted as though there wasn't any king of danger lurking just meters away from him. And when he finally did raise his hazy eyes he let out a startled cry at the horrific sight: a crimson eyed demon no less than half a foot behind the teen. Whose right arm was halfway bent behind his back in reach of the knife he had mistakenly put away too soon. His heart was racing inside his chest, adrenalin coursing through his veins at high speed, but his torso remained silent and still as he took full control over his bodies reaction.

With his back turned he had no means of knowing exactly what king of creature was behind him, panting and growling and putting the horses into such a frenzy, just as the last drop of oil in the lamp hanging from the middle beam burned out casting more than half of the stable in darkness; the creature especially. A speck of light though, continued to remain both from the remaining lamp in the far left corner as well as that of a torch hung outside of the stable from its roof. A cold and frightening chill ran down either male's spine as the light faded into nothingness and darkness took over and the twin ruby red orbs glowed even brighter.

Vlad had almost reached the weapon, his movement slow and cautious and fingers already beneath his shirt inches away from toughing the wooden handle, when something brushed against his leg and a gust of warm air hit the back of his right calf. The low, yet constant rumble intensified into a sudden high pitched growl as the wolf had just cleared its throat. The prince's heart rate suddenly dropped and he was forced to stay incredibly still and fight his natural instinct to flee, when the growl filled his ears and warmth of the air on his lag was replaced by wet fur brushing intimately against him. The contact continued until the broken piece of arrow reached his leg; the wolf moved no further. Instead the tip of her left ear brushed his bent arm at the wrist in a casual manner that instantly became alert at the sound of the stable door creaking.

"Stop." Vlad whispers instinctively knowing what the soldier was about to do. However, the latter grunted then screamed pushing himself up quickly the rest of the way. The door screeched anew, claws scraped against the soil, horses neighed from the pit of their lungs as thunder boomed above the roof and a body fell rather roughly to the floor. The wet sensation no longer came form the prince's leg but his face; lighting revealed the black figure standing where the man had once been. One solitary droplet trickled down Vlad's right cheek, red in color with a distinct metallic scent while a few smaller droplets had hit the front of his shirt like freckles. The man was down and the wolf hovering above him with its jaws deeply embedded into his throat. He'd been dead as soon as his body hit the floor.

A bell rang outside, loudly and quickly, along with cries of _wolves_ being shouted over and over again. The tranquil atmosphere outside changed dramatically as people began emerging from their houses and various silhouettes and howls filled the night air and the entire village. Most the villagers farmer with livestock and due to the forest being nearby and the lack of proper fencing had made these and easy target for hungry wolves in search of prey.

Seras raised her head slowly peering behind herself with blood trickling from her muzzle. Boy and beast looked eyes in the darkness as the latter licked its chops of the warm and delicious liquid. A moment passed before hurried steps reached their ears and a light flickered where the semi open tavern door lay; a small and delicate hand gripped the edge of the door pushing it open. The same small peasant girl walked in, her attempt to merely check on the poor boy, yet the bloody sight before proved too much and she screamed in horror her body immediately pushing itself to the right into the lift side of the doorframe and clasping her left hand over her mouth. The door shut behind her and the simple metal candle holder baring a small 3 cm lit candle fell from her right hand clinging loudly as it hit the wooden floor. The solder was dead and lying in an ever growing pool of his own blood born from the disfiguring gash marring his throat while his murdered stood over him, body tensing as she growled anew, fixing her with demonic red eyes for a moment before her attention was distracted by a new set of sounds. The lamp over the stable's door illuminated two sets of almost matching dark grey fur and golden brown eyes belonging to two wolves drawn in by smell of a fresh kill. They entered one after another causing uproar amongst the snarling and neighing horses. The grey stallion paced nervously hitting the door time and time again until he broke the hinges with two good kicks sending it crashing to the ground distracting the wolves' attention and engaging them head on as soon he was freed of his imprisoning stall. He snarled defensively charging and raising himself on his hind legs crashing his hooves into the earth in front of them.

Vlad ran forward despite the black creature standing next to him before and passed it before taking hold of the young woman's right hand and pulled her along towards the left corner of the stall where the ladder and several stacks of hay were lined up against the wall. Seras did not move but one of the grey wolves did and attacked them in favor of the rage filled horse.

Vlad pushed the woman forward shoving her out of the way just seconds before a clawed pawn was on his back and he was pushed to the floor on his stomach with the wolf's jaws mm away from giving him the same fate as that of the former blond soldier. The woman tripped over her dress in the panic and fell hitting her forehead against one of the ladder's steps knocking it down which in turn had the other lamp fall from its nail and spill over the smaller piles of hay. The grey wolf's claws dug into Vlad's back holding him down as more of the creature's weight was forced onto it to keep him in place, but then, a mere moment later, it vanished entirely leaving only the sting of freshly drawn claw marks made as the wolf had dragged them down his back. An angry, ferocious growl reached the teen's ears followed by a yelp and a whine and finally silence. He looked up and then to the left pushing himself up on his elbow, messy raven hair falling completely over his face. Bloody crimson orb stared back without moving and a cold black nose almost touched his left cheek. Several patches of fur on her head shone in a different color from the blood coating it. Their eyes locked and, as the teen's entire face was reflected back into the molten pools of red magma, recognition passed between them and he smiled a genuine sketch of a smile as he sighed in relief. The wolf cooed in affection pushing her nose into his cheek affectionately, but before anything more could happen an arrow screeched through the air hitting the second grey wolf's heart dead on. His body dropped lifelessly beneath the merciless hooves of the stallion. The other two men who had accompanied the prince were almost at the doorway weapons at the ready with the archer already reaching for his second arrow.

Their comrade was dead, the woman unconscious and their prisoner was on the floor with a creature at his throat while the small fire close to the woman was growing by the second. The scattered pieces of hay littering the floor gave birth to a tiny flame which that spread in the direction of the small rectangular barrels of hay igniting their bases. The flames were mm away from reaching the young girl's right foot as she stirred awake.

The cuts on Vlad' back stung from being stretched as he pushed himself forward into the black wolf's uninjured shoulder without a trace of fear. He grunted in pain but quickly dismissed in favor of something else.

"Run, Seras run." The wolf's ears immediately perked up at the sound of her name being called and she whimpered. "Now!" seeing as she stood still he grabbed her by the scuff of her neck pulling her head forward as he moved to his knees. "Run!" his tone darkened becoming dead serious as the last trace of childish sparkle faded from his eyes. The ruby orbs didn't blink reflecting his changing irises.

The woman woke to a burning apron and immediately screamed getting to her feet as she frantically tried to put out the fire burning her fingers in the process until she finally found the strength of mind to untie the burning piece of cloth from around her waist. By then the two men had barged in finding the stable on fire and their colleague dead but not a single trace of the young prince. The archer was first closely followed by the rider who quickly dropped his sword after quickly assessing the situation and headed for his injured horse grabbing his reins and pulling him to the side. Claw marks marred his left shoulder and flank from where he'd been injured by the twin wolves; the horse's legs were not compromised and the muscles remained intact. The entire left side section of both the upper and lower levels of the stable were on fire, flames burning a bright red and orange while tick heavy smoke rose up towards the ceiling.

"Where's the boy? Where is he?" the archer asked the hysterical woman after grabbing hold of her right forearm. Her hands hurt and the skin was red and swollen in some places.

"I….I don't know." She finally mumbled. "A wolf…there was a black wolf and…"

"What wolf? Where?" he wasn't pleased with her reply.

"I don't know." She shouted freeing herself just a several board from the upper level screeched and cracked engulfed by the flames. And with freedom for the taking she wasted no more time and ran from both the men and the growing fire. The men continued to look while moving backwards but there was no possible way of getting anywhere near the upper level.

"The horses get the horses quickly." The black haired man told his companion as he turned forcing his horse to head for the open door. "He's not stupid to burn."

The village outside was littered with several more bodies, both men and beasts alike, three of the wolves having arrows sticking out of their bodies.

"You wanted furs." The arches tell his companion in an almost amused fashion seconds before a part of the roof of the stable collapses releasing more smoke and flames like an erupting volcano.

"Find him." The other replies.

Dazed from both shock and pain the woman failed to notice the sudden disappearance of both the prince as well as the charcoal colored creature when darkness spread from her fur surrounding them completely.

The bodies landed with a thud on the second floor amongst several rectangular barrels of hay in the opposite side of the stable just above the main doorway: the boy and a woman; the wolf was gone. Their legs were entwined with a pair of ghostly pale, long, bare, slender legs hugged black clothed ones in the cradle of her hips. Vlad's body lay completely over Seras's and due to the teen's growth they were aligned in every aspect as Vlad pushed his weight onto his elbows and the haystack they had landed on. Unfortunately, his right limb brushed against the broken body of the arrow still embedded into her left shoulder making it move and the sharp tip cut more into her flesh as it was pressed to the side. Seras sighed in pain directly into his left ear as his head was still cradled in the right crook of her neck and the fingers of her right hand grasped his shirt over his lower back almost like in a lover's embrace. Vlad paused in his actions before slowly raising his head, right cheek bruising against hers, and repositioning his limb so that it avoided the arrow. The majority of his raven hair had fallen over his left shoulder except for the long bangs covering his forehead which softly brushed the middle of her forehead. Flames from below seeped in between a few of the boards surrounding them casting a flicker of warm, orange glow over their bodies that made Seras's long hair shine like pure the gold it so closely resembled. The sound of burning hay filled the upper level, the straw like pieces crackling beneath the flames, and within the sound of light breathing was almost completely masked. The prince leaned in on his right elbow while bringing his left up to her right cheek tenderly touching her fair skin as mm were left between his lips and hers. The two were just about to touch when the archer's voice bellowed from below as he demanded answers of the hysterical woman causing the teen to partially turn to look behind him forgetting once again about the arrow sticking out of her shoulder. Seras grimaced anew and gripped his shoulder despite the added pain the movement brought her.

"I'm sorry." Vlad apologizes without fail returning his attention to her, but had absolutely no warning when she cups his right cheek with her injured hand bringing his face down to her level and kissing him. Vlad gasps in surprise, eyes going wide in surprise, but the kiss ends just as fast and Seras pulls away letting her head drop back onto the stack of hay. Their lips still held the minimum amount of space possible between them before the teen rekindles the flame kissing her deeply. Seras sighed at the contact while Vlad took in a much needed breath against her lips before starting to coax her into moving her in a slow and steady pace.

_"Drink…"_ the deep baritone voice rang inside her mind almost instantaneously."_Take the blood_!"

It then screamed in despair, the sound accompanied by the sudden flash image of Alucard's forehead dropping onto hers as he held her so dearly in his arms while she drowned in a pool of her own blood.

Seras gasped for air breaking the kiss the moment the image was irreversibly burned inside her mind and she turned her head away to the right. Her irises were utterly pain stricken and when they opened anew, they did so to crimson tears leaking down her temples.

The smoke was dark and heavy as it rose from below at a steady undisturbed pace that grew by the minute and covered the ceiling in a thick black layer.

"It' alright…" Vlad whispers as softly as possible though his eyes take on a more mature look as freckles of red seep into the dark blue pools of water. His hand caressed her cheek while turning her head to face him and wiping the trickle of blood of her skin.

"It's alright draculina…" Seras's eyes meet his in silent conversation just as the ceiling begins to creek. They were utterly surrounded by thick flames flickering in the mass of smoke and all the wooden boards were blackened and creaking until they finally give way collapsing under their own weight. The rapture released more smoke and fire lighting up the night sky like a massive bonfire. The flames sizzled as they greeted the ice cold rain water falling from the sky but the fire was too strong to be put down so easily. Within minutes the entire building was engulfed in a mass of brightly shining orange.

"Are we done waiting?" the black haired soldier asks his companion as he stops the dark brown horse beside the front of the wagon on the right side. The second brown horse was strapped to the wagon while the grey stallion was tied to the small post on the left side of the cart, both his injured flank and his shoulder bandaged and back covered by a blanket. The two men stood by the outskirts of the village and bore witness to the burning inferno raging on despite the villagers attempts at stopping it. Hoods and cloaks shielded them from the cold weather and harsh wind.

"That depends." The brown haired one replies without turning his head away from the carnage, his bow secured on his back instead of under the tarp in the back of the wagon. "Are you done yet boy? Or are you going to stay here in the cold and watch the fire rage all night long?"

He no longer addressed his companion but the black figure hiding in the safety of the shadows of the closets building next to them. His boot clad feet were the first to emerge from the darkness as he stepped into the light. The rest followed shortly and while he kept his head down and covered by own hood his right hand was pressed up against the middle of his chest holding something neither one of the two men could see. He moved silently to the back of the wagon and got taking his usual seat in the back and pulling his knees up to his chest. His clothes were wet especially across his shoulders and several dark strands of hair fell over his forehead from under the cover of the hood.

The men exchanged a quick glance before urging their horses to move. The wagon's wheels squeaked a little as they moved then fell into silence once the hinges were reacquainted with the familiar movement.

_To be continued…._

Till next time and I would appreciate a little review.

Next chapter probably won't be up for about two weeks since I don't have much time to work on it and I had to change a good part of it from the original take.

Bye.


	14. Chapter 14 AN, a little about the plot

Ok, since I got a request for a small amount of explication regarding the last chapter here it is:

I'm basically using the principle that in the original story Alucard was destabilized by Schrödinger and had to recognize himself from all the others souls inside him to come back in those 30 years set in the manga.

since Seras doesn't have other souls( +/- a few I considered she would have earned over the ears) she has mostly herself to recognize, but there simply isn't that much left after schrodinger's blood destabilized her in a similar fashion.

so I'm using the deep connection between AXS to help her remember. Alucard's past seemed appropriate so I'm basically having her go into his mind and relive his past life (parts of it)...in the end there will be a far deeper connection between them afterwards, more to come later on in the story.

the plotline is complicated, and more will be also be revealed in later chapters regarding certain things that will concern Alucard.

bye.


	15. Chapter 15

Here is chapter 10, I've finally had my last exam today and so had time to write a little. Enjoy.

**Chapter 10**

The early hours of the following morning were cold and wet as fog moved amongst the many trees driven by a slow and steady wind. After riding all night along the same dirt road they changed direction a simple crossroad. The new path led them up a mountain path but the journey was long and difficult. With dawn close to breaking they finally stopped and made camp in a small clearing deep within the conifer forest at the base of a steep hill they would later on have to circle in order to proceed. The horses were tied to trees and feeding on fresh damp grass while the two men slept around a small fire pit that barely had a spark left, only smoke rose from it too was carried away by the wind. The campsite was silent except for the occasional crackle of the charred pieces of wood and the soft neigh of the horses as they grazed.

A small distance away from the camp and a few meters up along the steep ridge of the hill was a small set of three pools of water, a hot spring. A lone figure sat in the largest of these, the warm water passing the base of his ribcage by several cm, with his arms resting on the stone bank surrounding the pool and his head over them. The hot water was a partial reason for the fog descending down the mountains slopes.

The boy had his clothes neatly pilled next to him, the rain shower having them cleaned while the warm steam of the pools now helped the dry. His gaze however, wasn't focused on these but the hood he'd warn that night, more specifically, on the tiny black button nose and the tiny patch of white sticking out from under it. Closing his eyes he turned his head on its right side and brought his arms closer together. His ebony hair was partially wet and sticking to the top of his shoulders, but the warmth of the air surrounding the pool kept him safe and sheltered from the cold outside of the protective circle. The warm water also helped soothe the raw cuts running along the curve of his spine from upper middle back to the small of his back. The three claw marks were irregular in dept as the majority of the pressure had been exerted on the upper portion of the wounds causing the lower third to be much more superficial. The skin around them was red and inflamed and brought him discomfort though it was nowhere near the kind of pain he'd gotten used too in the last two years. He'd barely slept the night before and so the early morning hours were a small blessing in disguise. Still, unlike his companions, he cannot truly afford to sleep.

It takes his a while to reopen his tired eyes and when he does it is only because of a very light sound, a whimper, coming from his stack of clothing. He'd almost fallen asleep when it happened as so it took a little while to shake the feeling off, his eyes heavy and half lidded. He moves his left arm from under his right and reached for the bundle as his fingers gently push the hood back revealing a small ball of white fur as pure as virgin snow. A tiny rope of a tail twitched as the pad of his index touched the soft and tiny head. Not long afterwards a patch of pale pink comes into view as two tiny triunghiular ears perked up and the kitten's bright sky blue eyes, large and round, opened meowing softly.

Vlad smiles, his expression still a sleepy one, as the kitten meows anew as if to greet him and raised her head to follow the movement of his retreating finger. A patch of crimson marred the perfection of her pure fur over her left shoulder but other than that there wasn't anything else to hint at the arrow inflicted wound from the night before.

"I'm sorry they hurt you." Vlad whispers softly watching as the kitten get to her feet and curl her spine along the cradle of his hand. Her body no longer fits against his palm as well as it did in the past seeing that the teen's hand is much smaller making her body appear a little bit bigger than it really was. Nevertheless, both the touch and the sensation it brought were the same. She had been the tiny bundle so closely guarded and held to his chest when emerging from the burning building and getting into the wagon the night before.

The kitten meows jumping off the stack of clothing and crosses the small distance separating them and his right forearm where she brushes her nose against his skin just seconds before he pulls back straightening his position and grimacing as the new position stretches the cuts releasing a fresh torrent of pain. When done he reopens his eyes finding the tiny creature curled at the very edge of the pool sniffing the water. A playful yet devilish smirk suddenly spreads over his face and before she even has a change to raise her head, he snatches her up in both hands and pushes himself backwards into the water and away from the safety of the rocky edge. He felt tense and wiggle in his hands as he held her by the middle and her hind legs press up against his wrists until her tail sought to curl around something for support; her tiny heart pounded rapidly against his thumbs.

Vlad remains quite without saying a single word as he brings her up to his face. Instead his grin suddenly widens and he leans backwards to the water submerging both himself and the kitten within its small, warm depths. The ripples formed grown reaching the edges quickly due to the speed by which they were made and it's only several seconds later that the teen emerges laughing. He is utterly soaked, but laughing from the heart with his raven black hair plastered all over his face and eyes and parted only over his nose. His voice echoes in the forest around like a ghostly tune riding down along the threes, cliffs and hills around him.

The young teen then raises his knees out of the water and lets his arms drop placing the now wet bundle of fur on top of them. His laughter subsides into a gentle chuckle as he runs a hand though his wet hair freeing his eyes from the long wet bangs and watching the kitten with interest as she attempts to settle on his knees. His expression is carefree and happy and, for that moment alone, void of the heavy burden placed upon his shoulder and the future other had predetermined for him over two years ago. His blue eyes shine with the simple notion of freedom and the joy of the moment despite the slight stinging sensation radiating from his knees and back. Tiny claws dug in as if administering a form of _punishment_ for being dunked so _maliciously_ into the water without warning.

Two strands fall back over his face as he leans in while the rest of his hair remains in place as if tied in a low ponytail from the water it continues to drip.

"Forgive me?" Vlad requests in a very diplomatic and serious tone although the same kind of cheeky grin he had earlier corrupts his lips again and an unmistakable hint at hidden amusement floods every word. The kitten licks her right front paw before shaking her tiny body dislodging every drop of water from her white fur and partially into his face in her second act of simple act of justified retribution. Vlad shuts his right eye at the sudden onslaught, but holds his ground nonetheless.

The kitten meows as if satisfied and a moment passes before the boy's laughter reaches her tiny ears anew.

"Should I perhaps bathe you again little one?" his legs drop almost all the way and she's left stranded on a tiny island of skin and bone, paws _almost_ touching the dreaded liquid. She immediately meows looking up into his face with large, round innocent eyes; her right ear dropping and her head tilting to the same side. Vlad chuckles in amusement although his expression softens and his eyes become very gentle.

"You're right, I'm sorry." He apologizes softly raising his knees to remove the threat of the warm water while touching her back tenderly with his right hand caressing her spine. "I wouldn't let you get hurt, you know that."

The kitten start to purr under his soft administration and settles over his knees on her belly assuming a far more comfortable position that has him sketching a smile. Both fall into a comfortable silence broken only by the sound of gentle purring. Vlad's other hand slowly starts exploring her tiny body as he moves it over her head tracing the shape of her right ear with his index finger. The latter twitches in response and turns further into his hand rubbing the side of her face against it before extending a small pink tongue out to lick the outer side of his finger. She meows happily, but when her eyes focus of his face the expression she sees is no longer one of happiness, not even amusement. Instead it saddens all of the sudden and he raises his knees just a little higher shortening the distance between them.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry they hurt you." He of all people knew what than meant. His forehead dropped over hers and his hands embraced her small body on either side. She in turn can only make a small sound before he speaks again and his saddened voice caresses her ears.

"Change back. I need you to change back now alright? Change back." His tone is a pleading one that lingers of the very edge of desperation. "Please. Please change back."

The kitten could only meow and purr as though offering him a kind and companionate word of comfort. She presses her nose against the left side of his right cheek and then licks it as if offering a kiss as well as an apology..._I can't_….

Still the boy was relentless in his request.

"Change. Seras change, I need you to change. Please, please change." More strands fell over his face until either side of his head was framed by the charcoal mass and several tips were submerged in warm water. A single solitary droplet as clear as rain dripped from his chin disrupting the serenity of the water's surface. It gives birth to ripple after ripple that venture outward from their position towards the stone banks.

Vlad's grip on her tightens becoming almost painful as he flexed his fingers around her silently sobbing into the soft touch of her fur. His lips part, but nothing comes out, not the smallest sound, other that a quick exhale closely resembling a sob that's followed by a prolonged inhale.

A second droplet dies alongside its sister in the warm pool of sorrow.

"I need you please."

The kitten's body was bundled between his hands as though it were the most precious thing in existence. And as wave after wave of misery, grief and despair rolled off the distraught boy's shoulders, she could do no more that offer the comfort of a soothing caress. She became the pillow to drown his sorrow in.

"I'm sorry." Vlad whispers after a while and even though its his third apology in such a short amount time, it's not really clear why he utters it. All he has is a vast empty void in need of filling. His forehead rests over her spine and back, no longer her head, and the few remaining silent tears he still has disappear into her silken coat.

After a few moments more he pulls away without a sound, picks her up and gets out of the water in just three steps. As soon as he's out he sets her down easily on the ground and picks up his pants disrupting the neat pile of clothing. Four more steps and his dressed and sitting on the closest rock with his head held down, hair falling over his shoulders and shielding his face, and his arms limp in his lap.

"Fool." He whispers cursing himself as he places his elbow on top of his thigh dropping his forehead in his right palm; the other remains lifeless by his side. His bare back remains exposed to the warm air and fumes, the contours of his shoulders moving up and down as he breaths and the muscles beneath ripple in his attempt to overcome the moment of temporary weakness.

The forest around him grows eerily silent once more; happiness dies replaced by the slow descent back into the invisible prison and its confinements, the burned upon his shoulders growing even heavier. He is so lost in thought he neither hears not feels the presence slowly moving up behind. A slender hand reaches out just as he was about to straighten his posture and remove his hand from his forehead. The light touch on his right shoulder startles him immensely causing him to gasp at the contact and pull away in sheer reflex. He turns around halfway ready to defend himself if need by, but stops as soon as he catches a glimpse of two bare legs, water trickling along their length, and a small piece of sky blue fabric partially draped over the person's thighs in between the black strands obstructing the majority of his view. The rock he sits on takes on a new member and the light touch he felt earlier upon his shoulder resurfaces just over the middle cut over his spine.

Seras's fingers ghost over the 3 deep cuts without actually making contact, but even in its absence the inflamed reacts protecting itself; the very first instinct being that to get out of the way. His lips as he prepares to speak, but is left without words when her lips suddenly descend on the wound in question, their touch kind, tender and careful and soothingly cool against the heated flesh. The tip of her tongue traces the edge of the cut with immediate effect as the redness starts to fade instantaneously, the swelling subsides and the small though deep upper portion of the cut itself heals closing without fault.

"What are you doing?" he asks hoarsely at the wonderful sensation her warm breath had on his moist skin. Her left hand moves up as well touching the left side cut and applying a bit more pressure than she had for the middle one. Her index finger traces about a mm of it before his overwhelmed by the sudden and intense pricking sensation running along his back all the way down before he even has a chance to utter more than her name. He grunts clamping his jaws shut and closing his eyes as the same fate befalls the other two cuts as well; her nails so sharp they cut the partially healed edges with incredible ease. His upper body partially curves forward over his knees and his head drops as fresh, warm red liquid seeps from his wounds trickling down his back.

"Seras…" he says turning his head towards his left shoulder able to breath once more. There is no question that his back felt better with the pressure building up in the cuts finally released, but the muscle in his back still ripple in the aftermath of the sting twitching beneath her fingers as if waiting for another wave of pain. Fortunately, no more follows as instead of claws digging in the same gentle soothing touch of her tongue returns taking the pain away with each stroke. Her palms trace the two outer cuts on his back while her fingers and nails brush up against his sides and ribcage without in an almost teasing fashion. A heavier scent of blood reaches his nose along with the feel of warm liquid trickling down his skin wherever her palms touched. And although he could not see it, the crimson was darker in shade than his own blood had been and much, much warmer.

Vlad's eyes close as the unusual yet blissful sensation sighing when her hands finally leave his skin leaving nothing in their wake other than 3 perfectly healed wounds in the form of very thin pinkish lines that wouldn't leave scars unlike the rest of the massacre marring his back. His left hand finds her left knee and moves up her thigh a little squeezing lightly as her right cheek finds the space between his shoulder blades settling there most comfortably and her palm mold themselves over his shoulders.

Seras's hair is wet and sticking to her forehead in the front while the rest covers her back and nightgown pooling around her hips. Water drips continuously down the long golden tresses as she presses herself more intimately into his back decreasing the space left between them to a bare minimum; fading cuts along the base of her fingers and palm fade without a trace once their task had been completed. The rhythm of his heart decreases once the shock of being startled and the pain disappeared. It beat at a steady and soothing pace against her ear.

"Don't cry." She whispers so delicately he barely hears it. "I changed, don't cry."

"Seras…"

"I changed…" she turn her head just a little so that her lips brush against his skin.

"Yes." He replies without fail unable to keep the tiniest of smiles from gracing the corners of his lips. "Yes you did. Thank you."

"I must stay with my master."

Vlad sighs at the statement and closes his eyes for a second as if her words had brought him heartache at a deep and unconscious level.

"I am…" he begins, but her words take over.

"You _are_ my master, are you not?" There was the tiniest measure of hesitance within her voice as she asked her question. "You're always different."

"How am I different?" he asks in return caressing her knee with the pad of his thumb.

"I don't know…" she pauses for a moment." You don't feel different, but you are. I remember your face like it's always been there, but then it vanished. They beat you and…"

"And what?"

The few seconds it took her to answer felt like a bitter eternity.

"Your face became _his_."

"I see." He replies removing his hand from her thigh. A moment later he turns around to face her completely and her hands drop from his shoulders falling into her lap. "Is his face not mine?"

Seras doesn't answer. She holds his gaze as he offers his question, ruby irises fixed on his blue and hair framing her face beautifully, but lowers later on once she's ready to answer.

"No."

"Why?" his tone remains soft and patient as he reaches for her face with his left hand and brushes some of her hair behind her right ear caressing her left cheek with his thumb in the process.

"Your eyes suffer more than I remember. You cry."

"I do **not** cry." His tone involuntarily hardened matching the sudden change in his eyes, but it wasn't a state he could hold for long when faced with the emotion reflected with her large crimson eyes looking at him with the same innocence and trust the tiny blue kitten had done.

"Seras change. I need you to change." The same words uttered by a devastated soul were now used against him in a tone so frail it barely made the last part of that sentence stand out against the silence of the forest.

"Don't mock me." He says back in sheer reflex long before his mind can even process the words. It was the sole thing he would never stand for. Not to anyone, not even her…not anyone…

_"We can only save ourselves. Pride and dignity hold no worth if you yourself step on them at the hands of others wishes and desires." Istvan offered the young prince the few words of comfort he could come up with, words he'd learned from personal experience from the years spent under the wishes and desires of those he'd come to name 'jailors'. The child's body was broken and beaten after the most savage beating he'd ever received in his young life for the simple reason of standing up for himself after being at the mercy of one man's perverse greed and desire. His back was whipped to the bone and still bleeding despite ointment and bandages the elder man had wrapped them it, his skin was swollen, bloody and bruised from the many punches and kicks received as the men had held him down. For the first time after being abandoned to his fate with a promise his father would return the prince cried, his tears a mixture of both anger and pain. Deep down, he knew there would be no salvation._

"I stay with my master." Instead of denying the accusation brought up against her she reaches out in a different form comfort.

"You _must_ stay with your master." He corrects her without blinking.

"I _stay_ with my master." She repeats undeterred taking hold of his wrist as his hand had yet to leave her hair and face.

"Who am I Seras?" he questioned wishing to put an end to the conversation. Seras stares into his saddened eyes with humble curiosity as her hand squeezes his wrist and her thumb rubs circles over his pulse point. Her gaze drops anew taking on a confused look as if she's searching deep within for the appropriate answer. Her lips part ready to speak, but she continued to remain silent a moment longer.

_What's it feel like to be dead? _

The words arise from the emptiness of her mind making her lift her head and almost brush noses with the crestfallen teen who was suddenly so very close..

"Seras, who are you?" his voice is but a shallow wind emerging softly in the light of the rising day.

_What's it feel like…to walk the path of a draculina?_

"Draculina?"

Her reply is more of a question than a straight answer and her voice fails her in the end. She would have said more had he not moved forward capturing her lips in a simple chaste kiss. His lips are still against hers as he takes a deep breath before hesitantly beginning to move them against hers coaxing her into following his lead down a path walked before. In little time hesitation turns to knowledge and knowledge becomes a familiar dance danced before that eventually ends just as it began with a touch, a breath and a long everlasting look. They part ways and Seras's cups his face placing her thumbs on over the line of his jaw. Her eyes remain half lidded making her dark lashes seem longer like fine brushes touching a virgin canvas for the first time.

"I stay…" she pauses as the color of her eyes darkens a little and her gaze becomes more focus and intense." I stay with my master."

"His face is not my own."

Using her words against her this time he makes his point before his lips brush hers in a feather like caress without touching them completely.

"I don't know…" the former reply 'no' was beginning to change more and more.

She lets go of his jaw and instead places her right hand over his face moving it down very slowly committing his featured to memory. Her index and ring finger brush over his closed eyelids while the middle one follows the curve of his nose. In the end all three pads reach his lips at the same time where they stop and he opens his eyes again. Her remaining fingers touch nothing but the inner side of his cheeks. Seconds pass and still the pads of her fingers linger on his full lips still moist from their earlier kiss tracing their length from one side to another while her gaze never falters from their sight.

"Why do you stay then?" he cannot help but ask watching how her gaze follows the path of her fingers over his mouth. Seras closes her eyes ready to reply when a strange sound almost like a cry distracts them.

An injured doe stumbles and falls on one knee while attempting to descend along a small slope several meters away from their position. The creature dislodges a few rocks while standing back up and a few more as she continued on her current path. Blood trickled down her left hip in two separate rivulets from the tip of the arrow imbedded into her flesh. The body of the arrow was long, black and lean and very different that those belonging to the archer accompanying the prince. The doe's large black eyes scan her surroundings while her ears move from side to side following each and every sound of the forest. Her eyes eventually fall on the two humans in the distance watching them carefully and assessing the danger they might pose before turning her attention to the next object of interest. The blow was recent and crippling, but her long thin and powerful legs had quickly taken her form the immediate danger.

Vlad's gaze followed the doe's movements, but not with that much interest as Seras. The new scent of blood…not his own…

He knew exactly what was soon about to happen.

"They are coming." His whispered words brush the side of her face as he moves his lips up along her skin until he reaches her left ear. "Do you remember the rabbit Seras? The soft, white rabbit."

_The younger vampire lay in waiting sitting down on one of its raised roots. A small bundle of pure white fur rested on her lap with her arms securely wrapped around the little creature. Its heart pounded heavily against her left palm upon its chest while the other carefully stroked its back. It had been quite recently caught._

_"Then have it." he coaxed her into giving in to the craving so clearly written in her half closed garnet irises. The taste would stop her from fully enjoying it but he was more interested in watching her go for the kill at this point than simply drinking. She was slowly leaning in yet stopped after several inches._

_"No." she whispered shaking her head before meeting his gaze. "No….."_

_Afterwards she stood clutching the bunny tightly to her chest. /No...no.../_

_"Set it free." Alucard's words came bright light, a lifeline to someone struggling to stay afloat. His hands cupped her shoulders squeezing gently. "The choice of life or death is always there little one, everything is permitted. But the choice must be personal, yours, and if made accepted and lived by." He bent his head so that his mouth could whisper straight into her right ear. "Make the choice."_

"When they come you will take their blood as you should have the rabbit's." With each word spoken his voice became deeper and the pitch lower, seductive and hypnotizing. Even his eyes though hidden behind his bangs held a much more intimidating and serious expression within their depths. "You will obey your master, won't you little one? And do as I say?"

"Yes."

The rivulets of freshly spilled crimson were her newest fixation: warm and fresh trickling down ever so slowly along the length of the doe's hind leg and soft brown fur. Her answer was mechanical like it came from a machine and not a real person.

"They are not your friends. They will hurt you if they find you."

Noises from afar startled the vigilant creature whose sharp hearing immediately picked up the changes turning in their direction. Her head jerked after them to the left and her body became as still as a rock. The two arrows pierced her heart long before she had a change to move despite her sharp reflexes and she screeched going down.

"Take the rabbit's blood Seras. Take it and do not hesitate."

The noise became a group of voices in the distance.

"Hu…man…" she whimpers the word finally able to tear her gaze from the dying creature.

"What of it?" he offers his own question pulling away so he could meet her eyes. "Pity doesn't let you live no more than it keeps you warm at night. Do you wish to be hurt? Do you want them to finish what the man could not?"

"No…"

"Then drink. Take what you need without looking back."

"Master their human." The words passed her lips as if out of a memory along with an expression of confusion and fear lingering on the surface of her ruby irises. She did not understand.

"You are above human. Drink Seras. Drink and you shall never again be seen as nothing. Drink and shall truly be a vampire draculina, Nosferatu."

The word 'Nosferatu' had an immediate sobering effect on the draculina's mind, an effect amplified by the ghostly voice whispering in the back of her mind as the lingering touch of lips upon her own.

_"Nosferatu…" _her own voice.

_"Yes, Nosferatu." His much deeper one replying. "I will teach you."_

_"Master…" She smiles even more beautifully._

"You will drink blood of your own choosing, wandering the night powerful and singular, become eternal and complete. Drink the blood Seras Victoria."

She could not look away nor shut her eyes and ears from the powerful sound his voice made. She'd done it before and he'd seen her do it with as much pleasure any vampire could. At the same time though, he knew and could see she was…._afraid_.

"I'm afraid to." Thus the confession comes as no surprise. It is merely the step she has yet to take once again on the path of becoming true Nosferatu. All she required was that small push in the right direction.

"We do what we must to survive Seras. Even it means walking on the graves beneath our feet."

"I'm hungry." She whispers lowering her head as if feeling shame for voicing such thoughts.

"I know you are." His hands come up to cup the sides of her face raising her head so that their eyes could meet again. "That is why you must drink, just like the wolf. You'll understand once you do. Drink and no one will hurt you again."

"Did someone hurt me?"

The raven haired teen remains silent of her plea, but the look reflected in his ocean blue eyes old a different story. The answer was clear…_yes_…

"Drink."

A moment passes before Seras silently utters 'Yes master'.

And just like that her whole body turned into pitch black mist and took off in search of prey. None were left standing by the time she was done and none of the men saw her coming. They were just a small group of hunters and yet, in that particular moment, they became the hunted.

The doe lay dead n the same spot where it fell while five more corpses joined in the afterworld. The bodies were scattered several feet from it and most of them close together as only a small interval of time passed in between the vampire choosing her prey and attacking. Screams filled the forest adding a new chapter to the sounds of the dying and when it was all over the forest turned silent with the exception of the distinct sound the blood made by moving through the long strands of grass as it left each body heading for the vampire standing between them. Each drop made her stronger, each drop made her whole. And as the very last drop of warm crimson was consumed inky black shadows formed around her left arm and under her feet which then consumed her body forming real clothing on her person and replacing the short, light blue nightgown she had on.

The wind picked up moving her hair and when her eyelids moved up the dull color of her ruby eyes seemed much more vibrant, alive and beautiful to behold: fresh pool of blood that matched the liquid she had just consumed.

Her thigh long hair danced around her as her new clothing came to life: tight black pants with matching knee high black leather boots and an ankle long black leather coat. Underneath was a short black vest hugging her chest and ending just under it while her shirt was vibrant red that matched her spending eye color.

The clothes felt comfortable and _familiar_; they felt right.

The scattered remains of her food stood lifeless at the feet, none of the bodies intact as something deep inside told her to kill them before draining them.

However, when her eyes had opened, they no longer beheld the same forest as before. The lush green grass was a much duller in color and the threes seemed older somehow. Even the bodies, as her gaze fell upon the place where they had fallen, were no longer there; only a few bones. There was no life around her, not even across the field where the small secluded hot spring was.

Seras moved towards it, her feet making little if not any noise as she crossed the grassy field and then the rocks. Her friend was gone and she was all alone. Reaching the same stone they had sat upon brought her a small sense of comfort but nothing else; it was just as empty. However, as she sat down, a small piece of grayish cloth caught her attention. The fabric was wedged between the edge of the rock she sat upon and the one immediately next it. Fishing it out she noticed the rough exterior of the cloth no doubt from being partially exposed to the elements but also the semi solid contense it possessed. Inside was a simple red ribbon made out of fine silk and very soft to the touch. One end was beautifully stitched pattern of gold and silver thread depicting a circle, no a dragon coiled around itself and a silver shield over its back.

Seras starred at the symbol running her thumb over its surface as the though of using it to tie her hair flashed though her mind. She let it drop however and instead chose to tie it around her left wrist hiding it away beneath the fabric of her shirt and coat. Once again her every gesture was instinctual.

_Drink and you'll understand. I promise._

And understand she did, in more ways than one.

"Yes master."

Her words are lost in the wind as her body becomes mist taking on a new path and a new destination. Somewhere in the distance, beyond the border of the forest, the all too familiar scent of blood, fire and death called her name.

.

.

.

Blood dripped from a broken wine bottle with each drop echoing loudly in the emptiness of the dark underground chamber as the puddle around the table's front left leg grew little by little. Shattered glass littered the floor shimmering like fresh snow under the light of the fool moon and a large pitch black coffin lay open in one of the corners of the room revealing a beautiful dark crimson interior, the lining made from the finest quality silk.

Alucard sat in his throne like chair much like the day before starring absently into the void sprawled out before whilst playing with a small golden bell he held in his right hand. The bell was attached to a thin crimson ribbon and matched two more that lay crushed and broken next to his right boot. It made no sound as he expertly moved it between his long fingers. The night had passed him by without a drop of blood or a single step out of his chair. Close…so close….

Everything would soon change and everything would never be the same again. The day, this day, would either make or break that which was buried so deeply, it barely held a meager flicker of life within; a broken life, a sickness of the heart.

His eyelids dropped, fingers curling around the tiny bell.

Flashback

_One month now…_

_It has bee a little over a month since his fledgling had regained full knowledge of herself. One month of pure hell in a form he's never truly experienced before. Every step was like walking in uncharted waters and the more time passed the more detached he found himself from everything around him. He barely ate, barely slept, and the longing hidden deep in the back of his mind burned with unfamiliar intensity from each warm look on his Childe's face and from every small, innocent touch she would bring to the table. He could barely stand to be around her any more and yet staying away was far worse._

"_Master…..master…." the velvety sound of Seras's soft voice echoed in the confined chamber that was the vampire's dark and barely illuminated room. As for the latter, he rested peacefully in his throne like chair in a slumped position with his upper body leaning tot the left and his elbow over the armrest. His back was pressed up against that of the chair while both his long legs were spread and extended before him as he didn't even bother to cross them one over the other. He used his right hand as a pillow, his left cheek pressed against his palm, and had his fingers bent halfway so that they came in contact with his skin while his thumb rested leisurely over the line of his jaw. His hair was short yet in a messy style which obscured most of his pale features along with the orange tinted lenses ridding halfway down his nose. He opened neither eyes nor mouth despite the fledgling's calls. He easily felt her presence even before she reached his room. Her aura was light and comforting, much too peaceful for any normal creature of the night. _

"_Master?" his lack of response earned him a second call._

"_Why disturb my slumber police girl?" His baritone voice barely succeeded in detaching itself from the deafening silence of the room, its sound utterly void of true emotion other than a deep sense of melancholy. Cracking his left eye open he more than expected her to be standing before him, eyes big in remorse for a situation she did not understand and an answer he could not give, however, she was nowhere to be seen. Her presence was strong, as strong as it could get, so she had to be there. Then a small weight pressed up against the front of his left leather boot cooing softly. The vampire slightly readjusted the position of his legs whilst still keeping them apart from another and thus came across a small golden ball with two tiny golden paws placed upon his boot and a tiny head over the latter. Two little ears with soft pink interior twitched for a second before they lowered and two large, round crimson orbs, almost too big to be real stared back at him. She had a thin dark red ribbon between her tiny pointed teeth, the ribbon itself with three small round yellow bells sowed onto it on its left side and just one cm away from her mouth. _

_Seras moved her head forward breaking eyes contact. At the same time she let go of the ribbon and pushed it forward with her tiny black nose a cm or two more causing it to rattle in the process. Once done, she retracted her head back and waited patiently for her peace-offering to be either accepted or not. One ear rose with anticipation and her eyes did a quick scan of both him and the ribbon, up and down, as if urging him on to make the choice already. Alucard merely stared blankly at her with an unreadable and stoic expression and studied the little body nestled so closely against his boot. Time passed…and…_

_His silence eventually registered as disappointment in the young child's eyes, ear lowering in defeat._

_/I'm sorry master. / She sent her apology in a sincere and remorseful tone_

"_Let me rest draculina. I'm old and tired." He said sounding unkind and uncaring, though his tone hid so much more. Seras perks up immediately at finally hearing his voice and rises her head from its laying position as to place a second paw over his boot. _

_/Master…./_

"_Seras." Alucard didn't even have to raise his tone in order to silence her effectively. The sheer manner in which he spoke made it all too clear and made him sound exactly like he looked: defeated and truly very tired. The golden kitten became quite once more and her ears flattened against her skull as she watched his gaze sway away from her so utterly broken. His eyelids dropped and he buried his head further into the welcoming comfort of his gloved hand. The glasses he wore vanished and allowed his face to settle better in the cradle of his palm while the short strands of his hair provided the necessary cover for the larger part of his face; the shadows beneath his chair began to move swaying gently as though moved by the wind itself. Seras moved forward and climbed onto his foot knocking the ribbon and bells with her right hind foot. The sound it made by being touched and falling did nothing to disturb the elder creature. He didn't even stir at her rising on her hind legs and pressing her front paws over his shin just above the ankle joint. She pushed on it twice more but received no answer in return. She whined…..still nothing; just silence in a dark, hollow and empty room. Eventually she lowered her paws and curled her tiny body in defeat where she stood. She kept her ears down and her tail beneath her as a sign of the sorrow she felt. Her crimson orbs stood open a moment or two longer then closed to let the darkness envelop her as well. It was far better than having nothing to do but stare at the old dungeon walls worn down by time. Perhaps, if she had a small grain of luck and enough patience, master would indulge her later and offer her a chance to speak. The shadows continued to sway like waves crawling up the beach and spread throughout the entire room swallowing the floor and disturbing the fine layer of grey mist covering it like a blanket. The temperature dropped considerably sending chills down Seras's back and causing her golden fur to rise. She curls further in a failed attempt to keep the sudden cold out. _

_Warmth suddenly surrounded her as she felt her tiny body being raised off the floor along with the leather boot she rested upon. A thin black tendril encased her tiny waist griping a little tighter and brought her up and over his knee and then settled her gently over his right thigh once he crossed his legs, right over left. The new position offered a much better view of the ancient vampire. The tendril retracted with a final last caress that was afterwards replaced by Alucard's left hand and the silky fabric of his white glove. His long fingers easily surrounded her completely and held her captive yet safe by applying the precise amount of pressure needed. They moved with expertise over the curve of her spine acquiring a soft and gentle purr form the small golden cat. Seras maintained her previously curled position for only a little bit longer as she gave it up completely soon after in order to freely sway along the tune his hand created over each and every inch of her body. Her front legs extended from under her and took gentle hold of two of his fingers once they reached her head. She shifted to wrap herself around the now isolated digits then meowed softly and buried her head into the fabric of his glove. Content…so utterly blissful… _

"_I am tired Seras, so very tired." He spoke calmly, the sentiment somewhat replacing a bit of the sorrow and melancholy though regret continued to bloom above all else in the last part of his sentence. His hand wondered back down her tiny frame. _

_/Yes master…/ _

Her voice echoed lightly inside his mind in understanding and acceptance of his answer despite it being so _lacking_ in revelation.

"_No little one…" the pause was followed by a long and heavy sigh. "You do not." He contradicted her earning a semi curious look from the twin upside-down crimson orbs staring curiously at him. One of the two ears twitched slightly, but she made no move to look up and remove her head from the cradle of his large and warm palm. _

_Alucard on the other hand retracted his limb and let it drop lifelessly next to his side as he buried his face deeper in the comfort of his right hand. All that was left were the tips of his fingers peeking out from between the many wild raven strands. _

_There was little he could do to explain things to her. He felt hollow and empty and the void both worsened and improved from her presence alone. _

_**"De ce?"**_

_The words woke the vampire from his semi conscious state, but they didn't seem to register in the same way to the tiny ball of fuzz whose small triangular ears never moved. Alucard's head jerked up at the sound, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The room was just as dark and just as empty._

_Silence returned in the room and, for a moment, the vampire though the occurrence a mere figment of his troubled mind. His eyelids were just about to drop once more when…_

_**"De ce?"**_

_This time the words were screamed and the voice shouting them was filled with anger and pain. A swarm of shadows rose up from the floor not far from the door and from it the figure of a child emerged; a young boy. His dark clothes were rags and his skin unhealthy pale as if he'd spent a long time away from the gentle touch of the sun. Cuts and bruises littered his body and the top he wore exposed his right shoulder revealing a large purple bruise. The right side of his face bore matching marks, a swollen cheek and a deep cut across his forehead a few mm above the second half of his eyebrow. The latter bled out causing crimson liquid to trickle down his face in the form of a rivulet while both his upper and lower lip were split open on the same side. _

_The blue eyes that stared at him were completely broken and racked with suffering that caused far greater pain than his words. It was a sensation far worse than taking a stake through the heart, and an image made even worse by the pair of twin black arms emerging like the cloak of death itself on either side of the child. Clawed, skeletal like fingers dripping protruded before the limbs enclosed the boy getting closer and closer._

_"De ce?"_

_The same question found him anew as the child could not keep the look of pure suffering from his expression as his gaze drifted downward towards the tiny creature concealed behind Alucard's gloved hand. Ever closer; the hands passed the boy's shoulders and with them hot tears cleared a path over his dirty face. All the pain, all the horror and suffering the poor human child represented froze the vampire in his place. He was looking in a mirror, no a house off horrors… _

_And when he saw the boy's lips move asking the same question a fourth time, he could no longer hear his words. Death's hands encased the young human crushing him, returning him back to the mass of shadows he came from….__**Himself**__…_

_"Master….master…."_

_Soft…he shattered fragment of a beautiful, forgotten song._

_"Master!"_

_By the time Seras's voice finally reached him his gaze was staring blankly and continuously at the far end of the room not far from the door. His body was in a dreadful state of tension with the right hand having almost crushed her small form while the left had destroyed the armrest embedding many wooden splinters in both glove and flesh alike, drawing a good amount of blood from his palm. _

_The kitten's claws pricked his thumb and index finger in a gesture of self preservation, but all that stopped with the first drop of warm blood to fall over her small forehead directly between her eyes._

_Alucard was crying blood._

_**De ce? Why indeed?**_

_"Alucard…master…" the vampire's gaze finally drifted to her as if hearing her voice for the very first time. He blinked involuntarily and stained a bit more of her golden fur and black nose. Never before had his blood tasted so bitter on the tip of her tongue. Seras watched his face observing each and every twitch and emotion crossing it until recognition slowly sank in. The pads of her front legs moved ever so gently over his injured fingers as air passed through her larynx and she whined tenderly, tail curling around his pinky. She took a moment to lick part of the blood off her mouth, her tongue a small pink ribbon beaming with life despite the bitter taste, and then lowered her head back down closing her eyes to offer her Shire the privacy she instinctively felt he required. She did not understand, why cry? Yet at the same time, she did not consider it as her right to know._

_Her coiled tail tightened its grip moving upward along the length of his last finger as she took tiny steps rotating her body into his hand so that she now cradled his index finger in between her front legs once more. Amongst her first thoughts had been the idea of slowly creping up his thigh until she reached his abdomen where she could cuddle up safely against his side, but instinct dictated her actions once again and it told her to stay put. Her chest rose and she gave of a very low and tender meow after which she pressed her forehead against the dark material of his pants and the warmth of his muscular thigh. Her chest vibrated with the purr it began to emanate, the sound coming smoothly in a constant pace and soothing tone, not too loud and not to light. _

_Unfortunately, that very same sound tore into his soul like a clawed beast separating flesh from bone while its prey was still very much alive._

_Alucard closes his left hand ignorant of the splitters littering his palm and the pain they brought._

_"Leave." He succeeds in whispering whilst keeping his voice strong and under control. He moved to take her tiny body into his right hand but stopped midway as if the seemingly innocent act burned his skin._

_"Seras get out." His tone rises but his voice fails him at the very end of that same sentence. _

_The kitten barely has time to lift her head a little at his second demand._

_"Master?"_

"_Just…get…out…" Several bits of wood fall from Alucard's left hand, the sound as loud as booming thunder over the vast night sky, as he places his elbow on the remains of said armrest and turns his head hiding his shame; he buries it into his palm, amongst trembling, bleeding and wounded fingers and a tightly clenched jaw. The words tasted far bitter than his blood._

_Seras's silent heart began to beat inside her chest from the sheer intensity of the powerful emotion radiating off her Shire as strongly as a newborn storm. The cold returned, the darkness increasing tenfold. She was afraid. _

_Her transformations comes quick, body becoming a mass of shadows that seeped like water between his fingers before rejoining and reverting back into her human form. With the weight of her tiny body removed from his thigh Alucard stood so fast he tipped over not only his chair but the table next to it as well shattering both the glass and bottle sitting atop it. His body shook, shoulders trembling beyond his control, as haunting images of the past suddenly arose inside his mind giving way to a torrent of imagery, feelings and emotion he'd not thought of in centuries….**s**__**uch despair…**_

_Things he had buried as far away and as deep as inhumanly possible in the darkest place of his mind. It was like reliving the young boy all over again and having each and every horrible thing done to him repeated…__**yet again**__…_

_The shaking would not stop and it wasn't until Seras's arms firmly and unexpectedly wrapped themselves around his middle that the horrid feeling came to an abrupt halt. Soft breasts pressed against the hard plates of his muscled back, muscles wound up so tight his body resembled a thick block of cinder: sturdy and strong, yet just as cold and lifeless. Her head settled perfectly in the space between his shoulder blades and despite the layers of clothing he was able to clearly feel the warmth of her breath touch his skin._

_It took her a second to react, another to curl her arms protectively around him and give him everything she had, and a third to let go and disappear into a streak of crimson light that phased through the semi closed door of his chamber. Never before had the sound of that particular lock closing ripped his soul so merciless. _

_He fell to his knees…alone in the dark…alone with his own sentence._

_**De ce?**_

_He fell alone, with blood dripping from his face..._

Flashback end

Alucard crushed the last remaining bell grinding his teeth together in anger. The bell fell soundless from between his fingers until it hit the floor bouncing off it twice before stopping altogether next to its fallen sisters. A moment passes and the distinct smell of tobacco and blood, Seras's blood, fill his nose causing his head to rise and his eyes to glow from behind the raven curtain of his bangs.

"Mercenary." He calls without bothering to look up just yet.

"Vampire." Pip replies in full and his heavy French accent fills the room before his body steps out of the shadows. The speck of light at the tip of cigar shone brightly against the almost pitch black background as he took one final deep breath before discarding it to the floor and walking forward towards the creature's chair. A cloud of grayish smoke surrounded his form as he exhaled just moments before raising his head and chuckling, a low pitched sound filled with both amusement and astonishment. His right eye met the vampire's red.

"So you really are here. I confess I had _hoped_ otherwise, but I can't truly say I'm disappointed."

Alucard uncurls his fingers moving his hands so that they mold over the edge of the dark brown armrests. He yet remains quite.

"I am curious about one thing though, as to why you're doing this, but then I find myself uninterested in the answers you might give." He stops but a foot's distance from the raven haired vampire.

"What happened?" Alucard asks keeping his voice low.

"Fuck if I know." The mercenary says searching his left pocket for another smoke. "All I remember was the world crumbling around me in your rather glorious wake through her mind, then nothing, nothing but darkness; an eerie silence I never felt inside her before. Then…" he pauses just long enough to bring the cigar up to his lips, light it and take a deep, prolonged breath of the lit cigar. "Then all Hell broke loose." Grey smoke exited his lungs encasing the vampire's face as it drifted his way. "She started screaming and screaming and I woke in an underground chamber face to face with a broken coffin, her coffin. And all the while she kept screaming over and over and by the time I finally found her there was nothing but darkness; a mass dripping from the walls and ceiling of this room in a tower bathe in blood and her voice coming from within." He took another deep breath burning more than half of the cigar. "She was in there and so were you apparently, although I have no idea how. _How the hell can you still be a child_?" he murmured that last sentence to himself making it, even for the vampire, difficult to hear. Afterwards he removed the cigar form between his lips and let it drop to the floor stomping it with the sole of his left boot.

"I wonder though, if you'd also care to hear her scream?" he suddenly raises his voice lining it with a heavy blanket of sarcasm. "I could show you, but then you already knowhow well she can scream, don't you?" The look in his emerald green iris hardened whilst still keeping full contact with Alucard's bloody ones. But then his lips curl upward in an ironic smile that screams distain. "How ironic that she still cries for you, cries and screams 'monster' to something other than you. That she protects you…"

"What's it to you?" Alucard offers a question of his own in a matching tone.

"Tell me how you did it." Pip demands with a stern look on his face. Alucard chuckles revealing his fangs and doesn't stop despite talking the situation is just far too amusing. "Why? So you can show me more of your precious _pity_?"

"Fuck you!"

And still the vampire laughs.

"If I could see you dead I would." the mercenary states, tone hard and serious.

"I already am dead." Alucard replies, eyes gleaming maliciously behind his dark bangs. He is more than familiar with had transpired between _himself_ and the Frenchman at the castle.

The door to his chamber swings open a moment later and the sound of light footsteps reverberate off the stone slabs lining the floor. He carried a bucket of ice in his right hand and walked in calmly without a word or a glance upwards towards the two bickering figures.

"Then why have _need_ of _me_?" Pip counters almost silently resourcing to a truth the vampire could not deny. "She'll never pass that gate and you know it. My being here will do you no wonders. Not the _path_ you seek." Every word he spoke held the utmost distain towards the creature before him. Their eyes were locked in a heated battle the angel either did not see nor wished to see.

The bucket was placed in the table, two blood packs resting within.

"Integra has need of Alucard. There's been a _complication_." He says looking over his shoulder. Alucard's gaze is lost to him and instead completely focused on something else. "Alucard?" he calls a second time finally receiving a fraction of the vampire's attention whose eyes momentarily shifted in his direction.

"Did you not hear me? You have to make another, another fledgling. Did you not hear me the first time?"

"I don't' _make_ vampires Walter." Alucard's tone darkens and the haze covering his eyes vanishes.

"I'm afraid that decision is in neither of our hands. We no longer find ourselves in a circle of our choosing." The teen's gaze softens a bit hinting towards sadness and melancholy, but it quickly resumes its former stoic and hardened expression. "You are to report to Sir Integra and see it done."

"Am I?" Alucard grins mischievously, madness rising inside the river of blood staining his eyes.

"We must play the game as it is vampire so that later their advantage will be ours."

With that the young butler turned around heading towards the door.

"You've failed once Angel…" Alucard calls over his shoulder watching the teen from the corner of his right eye. "You could do it again."

A long moment passes with nothing but the sound of Walter's feet moving over stone. Then, just as he was about to reach the door…

"And so could you." He peers over his left shoulder, blue eyes narrowing knowingly. "You and the mercenary."

And when the door closed behind him, it made no sound whatsoever.

.

.

.

The image on the ultrasound machine's monitor is set to pause, a tiny creature lying within the safe confinement of Integra's womb.

"The baby shows no sign of distress Sir Hellsing. Heart rate is stable and the placenta is still in place. You've not experienced any contractions since the last dosage?"

"No."

"No bleeding?"

"Not since last night."

"Very well. We'll continue monitoring your progress, the baby as well. But you must let me know immediately if it starts again. A cesarean may be in order and not just simple medication. You're far along for the baby to be born should it have to come that, but it is still early."

The examination had went on for over half an hour time in which the vampire had patiently waited in the shadows until the doctor finished and left the room.

"Wise would have been to keep my blood my master." He speaks in a taunting manner.

"Wise would be for you to be silent my servant." Integra replies in full before adjusting the pillow behind her to a more comfortable position.

"If you so wish it." Alucard chuckles stopping at the foot of her bed.

"What do you require vampire?"

"Whatever you desire of me my master." His broad grin exposes his long fangs in a devilish smile that promises a lot mare than it reveals. Integra chuckles closing her eyes for a moment in thought.

"In 187 years you've not made one fledgling and when you did, you heeded none but your own twisted mind and desires to do so. My words will make no difference, second to the Queen or not. You will not make another." She spoke with the utmost certainty.

"If you order me to." He tells her calmly meeting her gaze at the same time.

"You won't." And still she contradicts, knowledge inside her words.

Flashback

_"Is this why you left then? She's dying and you…"_

_"I'm not in the mood for a worthless speech mercenary." Alucard replied in a tired annoyed tone._

"_Seras isn't eating. She doesn't sleep and she's trapped in dreams I cannot reach loosing her mind by your hands. God damn it vampire look at me when I'm talking to you!" He tried grabbing his shoulder; however, his hand went straight through it. The time was almost up. Alucard still refused to acknowledge him. "I had to trust you'd protect her one but you didn't, you hurt her. I cared for her, but had to step back and let her go every damn time because of you. I can't even say goodbye to her because of you!" The last words he spoke were full of hatred and disgust._

"_Then leave!" Alucard shouts turning his head towards the fading sight of the mercenary. His words were full of repulsion, like deadly venom accurately hitting its target. "Leave and say your precious goodbye."_

_Both stared at each other, both set on not backing down. _

"_How can you make another?" Pip finally whispers in defeat. "Why even bother summoning me here?"_

_"Why would you ever think __**I**__ did?" His reply leaves Pip too stunned to answer back. "You…"_

_Alucard began to chuckle grinning like mad. And in that gesture alone lay the real answer to all of Pip's questions. __**I**__ did not. I, the vampire, did not…_

_Pip closes his eye in understanding, it was so simple. I am not really here._

_His body is almost gone, a fading image marring a pitch black canvas._

"_I hope she never finds you. I don't ever want her to find you." Closing his right good eye he let his body shift back into the shadows from whence he came. He floated there in mid air for a few seconds then faded out of existence. _

_Utter silence fell afterwards and Alucard closes his eyes clutching his left fist. The symbols upon began to glow faintly._

"_Monster!" the word flashed through his mind as fresh as the first time he heard coming from her lips in during his lashing. 'Monster', she had cried for him. _

Flashback end

"I will but you must bind her." He conditions his acceptance.

Integra snorts in disbelief. "You of all people will bow to whim of a snot nose royal brat who thinks he knows everything? You?"

"Yes." His tone does not falter.

"Why?" her question is just and directly to the point and her eyes narrow revealing her curiosity of the matter.

"Because giving him what he wants will offer me something in return. And I plan to remain standing by the time this farce of a game is over."

"And Seras? You still have her."

"And I'll continue to do so. Making another holds no meaning to me."

"Not even her title?"

"Calling a female vampire draculina is like calling you human, meaningless."

The phrase makes the young knight laugh.

"You're an excellent liar Alucard, the best I've known, but I'm afraid you've failed to reach your usual standard this time. You will never call any other vampire _Draculina_."

"You would have me deny the order then?" he attempts to change the subject only to be somewhat surprised by her answer.

"Yes." The mere look in her icy blue eyes enforces the power behind her words. "You are **my** servant and you will do as **I** command."

Alucard's deep voice filled the room as he threw his head back laughing like a madman. Pleasure dripped from his lips like honey from an overflowing jar. "**I am**." He bows before her curling his right arm in front of his chest as he bends forward and his eyes flash a dangerous red, a dangerous promise. "Yet you know I _will_ have to disobey."

"Of course." She purrs much to his satisfaction. "However, she will not be bound by me. I cannot risk it."

"Then what do you propose I do my master? Only a Hellsing can perform a successful ceremony."

"And a Hellsing will."

Silence descends upon them and as Alucard stares into his master smiling face and the very cunning expression written all over it; his lips too begin to curl in understanding.

"He lacks title."

Instead of offering an immediate reply Integra merely pulls out the silver chain hidden beneath her top. At the end of it was a simple, yet elegant silver ring dangling from side to side in lazy fashion.

"Titles are irrelevant."

Alucard's deeply resonating chuckle started to fill the room once again, this time dropping lower to an almost malicious intent. And for someone completely unfamiliar with the vampire's more sadistic nature, it most likely sounded that way. But Integra knew differently, oh yes, she knew perfectly well what was going on in the vampire's own personal hell. The sound sent chills down the spines of everyone foolish enough to be anywhere near the infirmary that day.

Two pairs of distinct steps descended down a long flight of stairs leading deeper and deeper into the bowls of the dungeon. Walter led the way carrying a flashlight in his right hand and a rectangular cardboard box under his left arm as he was being followed by a young woman with black shoulder long curly hair and hazel nut colored eyes the heals of her shoes sounded loudest and each step took the farther and farther away from the safety of the ground above.

"Where are we going?" the woman asks as they pass yet another archway and are faced with a new set of twin halls.

"You have signed and agreement with the queen representative, have you not?" he questions in return instead answering hers.

"Yes of course but…"

"Then he has more than informed you of what is required of you as well as your new duties." His tone lacked its usual calm demeanor. He leads the way without looking back to check if she's still following. The hall continues for about 4 feet more before it curves to the left revealing yet another small stairway of approximately 6 steps that lead to a solid wooden door marred with the same pentagram design drawn in blood and held together by flat and thick black bars. The temperature was already far lower than that of the manor, but seemed to have gotten far colder the closer they came to the door in question.

"You can't expect me to go down there, do you?"

"And just exactly where do you thing you'll be staying Miss Richford? You will become a vampire and vampires live in a coffin in the dark."

"Excuse me?" she shrieks in utter indignation and the sound is loud enough to crack a window in half. Unfortunately for her, Walter ignored her completely and continued down his current until he reached the door and gripped the circular handle.

"How badly," he pauses deepening his voice so that it came out as a dark and enticing whisper. "Do you desire an immortal life?" his eyes hold her captive with such intensity it made bathe the low temperature and the eerie atmosphere of the underground dungeon fade to second place.

The hinges squeaked forced to move for the first time in years. It paved the way into a dark and cold room; the air heavily impregnated with dust and a strong musky scent form the dampness it had been subjected to over the years. The door closes behind them of its own accord with a defending thud than resonates throughout the entire chamber. The room was bared with the exception of a single long rectangular metal table and heavy chain of various lengths and sizes littering the floor next to the table itself as well as the northern and eastern walls. The two walls held more chains hanging off them, the links deeply embedded into the thick stone for added support.

Nighttime was slowly approaching, the sun descending rapidly in winter days towards the horizon while the moon gradually began to rise in its place; the perfect moment to _take_ a life.

With a smirk gracing his lips Walter stepped forward heading towards the table and turned his flashlight off drowning them in darkness. He heard Name gasp in fear and move back until her back hit the solid door with no place left to go. Shadows danced upon the wall standing out despite the utter darkness.

/ It will not help you./ A deep baritone voice boomed inside name head making her heart almost stop from the sheer force of its words. Fear drips from her very being like water from the sky during a ruthless storm.

"Truly pathetic."

A light appears out of the darkness, a small candle barely and inch high sitting in the middle of the table illuminating a bit of the room it and the young. Alucard steps out of the darkness appearing directly in front of the frightened female. His eyes glow unnaturally red, a dark bloody red brimming with flames born out the deepest pits of hell. His fang elongate passing his upper lip as his grin remains displayed a moment longer and his face remained completely covered by long and wild shoulder long strands. "This is the creature you wish me turned? Disappointing." He growls the word 'disappointing' while leaning it suggestively, his eyes landing on her throat.

"You may do with her as you wish, those are Integra's order." Walter places both the box and his flashlight on the table in front of him and the proceeds to remove the lid of the former.

"Then let us see what our new pawn can do." Once again the tone of his voice sent shivers down the woman's spine. His words held amusement laced with a deep sense of morbid curiosity and the promise of something unholy. The shadows dripping off the wall surrounded the young woman trapping her in place by grabbing hold of her arms and legs in a deadly grip. Alucard stepped back and the right side of his body melted into a dark mass of black, red and grey that shifted several times while growing. All she could do was stare in horror, eyes wise and body trembling, at the demon springing to life from the vampire's arm: the multiply eyes, the teeth…

This wasn't part of the plan; this had no been told to her. There should have been a bite and nothing more.

And all the while the vampire kept laughing.

"Kill her." He commands and the creatures growl howling its acknowledgment for the world to hear. Baskervilles clawed paws touch the ground ranking deep marks into the stone as if it were nothing but a piece of look warm butter; his massive body more than make the woman look like an insignificant twig just waiting to be ripped in half.

A portal opens behind her swallowing her up and the hound attacks eager to fetch his prey. He too phases through the wall, the hunt was on and the many halls and chamber littering the dungeon would provide ample hunting grounds.

"I'm impressed at the freedom Integra has allowed you." Alucard turns to face the raven haired man and flicks his right wrist causing several torches to lit up disbanding the darkness. "Have you won her back so easily?"

"No." Walter smirks though his tone is dark. "I have merely found it _unnecessary_ for her to know about _our_ little arrangement. This is a petty concern after all."

Rummaging through the box he finds two distinct objects hidden beneath an old piece of cloth stained with a dark brown encrusted liquid: a long, thick wooden stake with a silver tip and a book.

"I see you visited the old priest after all."

"Yes, considering you threw me not two streets away from the chapel. On multiple occasions might I ad."

"And that upset you?" Alucard asks mockingly. "I had thought the secret worth it."

Walter smiles throwing the vampire a loaded gun he'd kept hidden under his vest. "You forgot the gun."

A long chill inducing howl filled the underground maze.

"Have I?" the vampire asks sounding like an innocent child scolded for doing something he did not was wrong. It would have worked had it not been for the mocking and sadistic grin displayed over his face. He chuckles, a deep resonating sound from the bottom of his chest.

A woman's' scream matched the howl from before.

"Fine." Alucard says with a sigh at the look in Walter's eyes; the gun dissolves from his hand waiting to find its new owner.

"It's not like it killed you." Walter tells him finding amusement in the whole situation. "You can't expect the whole world to be like _us_."

"Seras did not fear." His words, though spoken in a very low voice, stop the light chuckle escaping Walter's chest. Afterwards, the vampire became quite and spoke no further.

"No, she did not." The teen agrees reinforcing the meaning of Alucard's sentence. He then turns his attention back to the book in the box, a small booklet big enough to fit in someone's pocket. It too was bound in black letter and just the journal the vampire had before, this too bare bold lettering written in gold: ABvH.

Three gunshots rang outside of the closed door followed by yet another scream.

"It will end quickly." Alucard whispers turning his back to the raven haired teen.

"As it always does." Walter concurs. Two more shots were heard. The hound was playing, that much was certain. Despite Alucard's order he would not kill his food, not yet at least.

Walter opens the booklet observing that most of the pages were black and yellow from age and only a handful had been written on. "I have been meaning to ask you," he the states thinking back for a moment on the night he'd asked this particular question before. "Why did you turn Seras into a vampire?"

The only sound to follow is that of the pages he turns examining the handwriting: there were two different styles.

"Have you met her family yet?" the vampire replies. How long has it truly been since they had last shared a dialog concerning those undead?

"No. She's orphaned." The two monsters share a glance. "Just like all of us doomed to the darkest pits of hell."

Many more shots followed but it was the bone shattering scream that was held the most meaning.

"Your new pet is heading the wrong way with no more bullets."

"Then she will die as dog food." Baskerville howled low and deep. Alucard sighed beginning to walk.

"Educate yourself while I'm gone Angel, I want to enjoy trampling upon the weak." With those words he vanished into thin air knowing his hound had found its prey.

"Those who refuse to give up are entitled their time to trample upon the week." Walter whispers silently in remembrance and the color of his blue eyes darken as his eyes narrow slightly and his lips curl into a wicked smile as if he'd just revealed a forbidden secret to the world. He stops skimping through the pages and instead stars with the beginning.

_1889, August 31_

_March 17th, the night has finally ended. The Count is mine._

The handwriting changed after that first sentence. The letters were smoother and much thinner, yet somewhat less elegant.

_March the 17th, a day I hope I can wipe from memory. A day to overthrow all other gruesome and hellish experiences I have endured while trapped in the Count's Castle. Finally the nightmare has ended. _

_I have taken it upon myself to finish professor Hellsing's entry. He had been unwell these last two days after successfully ensuring the Count will never freely walk the night again. I require little effort to express my utmost distain for the whole situation, more towards the fact that I would have preferred the creature destroyed and terminated, instead of a retched dog tied to an invisible leash. Dogs that are dead no longer bite or bark and that is why I fear the professor has merely delayed the creature's bite in favor of his bark. What good will come of this unholy union I cannot say. To me all that matters is that he will be kept away from both Mina and my child._

_March the 17th, the day is written in the blood of the innocent. It has taken me many moons to simply put the events of this retched night behind me but I fear the horrors I have witnesses will forever haunt me. I shall therefore, to the best of my abilities, inscribe upon these pages my recollection the last time I was forced to look upon the face of death._

Flashback

"_There is no escape vampire. A wise man would know when to accept defeat._

"_I have eternity Hellsing." Alucard said as his laughter faded and he licked his own blood from his lips. He was tied up against a wall in an upright position, blood poling under his bare feet as it continued dripping down his frame. He was clad only in a pair of black pants and many wet strands were molded to his bare shoulders, chest and back. He had been worked upon for 11 days and nights straight and both his hands and arms bared runes on them, the skin burned and covered in coagulated blood. The process was far from being complete. It was nothing more than a small leap within that direction. He faced down refusing to acknowledge the meek mortals presence. His capture stood with his back to him and front facing a bloody table filled with various objects. _

"_And how will this eternity play out for you count? In chains? In blood? There is and there will be no escape for you."_

"_Four months." said the vampire. Simple words, yet very true and meaningful. "Blood does not faze me. Not mine, not anyone's. I've had years!" He screamed violently pulling at his restrains and raising his head showing off his burning eyes. "Years of torment, years of this, despair and torture. Years of abuse and ridicule under the prospect of peace and dominance! You are nothing! I'll watch you all die long before you break me human! Is this all you got? Is it is it?" Laughter broke free from between his parched lips whilst amusement, dark and twisted as it took over his features and the pair of blood red eyes shown with delight and pride. "I am more than you think! You know not who I am! Or do you? Do you, you puny insignificant man? I have led men and beasts alike. I rule over the night while you have nothing but the whishes of a slave! A whore unworthy, a whore no man would ever spread her legs and take! I am a KING!" _

"_A monster!" _

"_A KING OF MONSTERS! Feared by all! One who took and killed again and again and again AND AGAIN! What will you do?! Tame me? Whip and flog me until I break and cry for you pitiful mercy? I am a Count! I am Vlad last blood prince of the Dracul! And what are you? Nothing! What will you do?"_

"_This!" Abraham shouted as well stabbing him in the right side a few inches under the last rib of his torso with a long, thin silver instrument. His face pressed against Alucard's right ear exposing his neck dangerously close to deadly fangs. But he knew, oh how well he knew he was more than safe. "Go on take it! Dare Count! I order you to feed off my blood!" The old man mockingly provoked him into feeding knowing full well that hunger would make him give in. starved and beaten, how could anyone refuse? The seals began to glow as he struggled against such a demand. The smell lured him in, just a little bite. His fangs ached in denial pushing passed his bottom lip. His skin burned and his jaw muscles fought between closing down on warm flesh and remaining open. _

"_Take it vampire!"_

"_Never!" Alucard roared in pure rage relying on his mental powers to shove the man from his side. His back collided with the instrument filled table knocking both over. Alucard forcefully pulled at the shackles holding him bending the thick pieces of metal holding him trapped. "You can not control me!"_

_Breaking the right shackle he freed his hand summoning a mass of shadows to lengthen it at the same time. His arm became a pitch black limb with claw like fingers that grabbed Abraham by the front of his throat squeezing the very life out him and forcing him to stand on the tips of his black shoos. The latter in turn tried his best to break the hold using his own hands to pry the dark fingers open and utter a command though constricted windpipes. "Command me! Command me if you dare you retched mortal, but I will see you dead one day! I will have vengeance! This agony is nothing! I CAN FACE MY FEARS! Each and every one unlike you, you worm!"_

_He only let go when three more men came rushing in two of which repeating the old man's actions and stabbing him in the chest with pure silver knives. The third threw a whole bucket of freezing blessed holy water over him. The wounds caused by the runes sizzled at the sudden and violent exposure burning his flesh, yet still he remained unaffected masking the sudden pain. He laughed like a mad man while speaking again. Madness filled the pair of garnet irises and dominated all of his features. He freed himself completely sending the men flying backwards and into the nearby walls. Within seconds he stood face to face with his tormenter. "What is it you fear Hellsing? Tell me!" He lifted him stretching his arm to the fullest above him. "Is it your life? Theirs? Answer me!"_

_To make it even clearer he went for the instruments previously used on him. The first, a surgical knife, flew into his free left hand before roughly being thrown into on of the men's hearts. Instant death followed to both him and the second closest to him. The last withered in fear, paralyzed amongst a bunch of used, bloodstained silver chains huddled in a small group in the far end of the lab room. The floor gathered the fallen ones blood in pools that formed beneath their dead bodies before starting to move at high speed towards the vampire's bare feet. He absorbed them till nothing was left. _

_Abraham tries to speak only to find it harder and harder due to the limited supply of air. In the end, however, he finally succeeds._

"_So do I!" He inevitably shouts managing to catch his breath. "I face death whenever I see you monster! I fear it not!" the two faced each other off._

"_A curse, a curse is what you are, but I will see you gravel at my feet as you will see me dead! I will be your master! I will have power over you and you will obey me servant!"_

_Infuriated by such words Alucard released the man whose body hit the floor with a loud thump. The man coughed and gasped for air filling his lungs to the brink. The vampire moved forward pulling his right arm back ready to strike and pierce his chest with it. Regrettably, he was stopped just as the tips of his fingers managed to tough the middle of his chest._

"_Stop!" The seals inflicted immense pain demanding total and utter obedience. The freshly spilled blood should have given him an edge yet nothing but the opposite happened. It enforced the control. "I order you now slave obey! Step back!"_

_Silence dominated the room afterwards. Alucard's body shook in resistance until he couldn't continue any longer and was forced to obey. First it was half a step, then a full one, then two more. Groaning in rage and baring his fangs, he attempted a summoning. _

"_Kneel! Kneel and bow before your master slave!" _

_And he did. His knees started to buckle beneath him and he fell on his left while the right remained raised. _

"_Kneel!"_

_Alucard screams groaning the very pit of lungs as he defines the order straightening his posture. Horrible wounds formed on his arms and hands, deep and bloody as the liquid gushed out of them. His head remained down, jaws struggling to stay closed despite the horrific pain ripping through each and every cell of his battered, trembling body. His fist clenched so hard the knuckles turned white. Struggling, he places one foot forward, then another and another…._

"_I…have eternity…you pitiful human…"_

"_You have what I allow!" The blade which struck him now pierced his heart was a thick, silver tipped stake, made from dark wood. Poisonous words were whispered into his ear as both men were forced to maintain their current position. "Water harms you no longer. This silver, though it still brings you pain, fades with passing days." Twisting the blade he pushed it deeper into the defenseless flesh. "My orders slave, you shall not feed. Not on the living, not on the dead and not on anything anyone or anything will give you. For the next year you will taste nothing unless I see it done! Nothing! For now onto the eternity given to you by my bloodline a Hellsing will command you. You will obey me monster. Obey me now and obey me always!"_

Flashback end

_Obey me now, obey me always…_

_I cannot begin to describe the relief that washed over me in that dark corner of the creatures forsaken chamber amongst the bodies of my fallen comrades and their blood soaking my skin as well as the floor around me. The chains wept holding him down and for a moment I had truly thought they would break under him sentencing us all to death. I thank God for taking pity on my poor and retched soul. He breathed and took the monster instead._

_I thus sign the end, a faithful friend and servant of one Abraham van Hellsing. Should he ever have need of service I shall not hesitate for a moment to answer noble his call._

"Jonathan Harker..." Walter recites the name signed at the bottom of the page out loud. Years of searching and questioning only to stumble upon the truth in a small booklet locked away in the bowls of a small and forgotten church. How ironic.

Several pages more held spells and incantations and ever the hallmark design etched upon Alucard's skin and gloves.

The teen closes the booklet with a smirk and a sigh knowing he would need to recite those few lines soon enough. His hands reach for the stake next. Different shades marred the wood the stake was carved out of, but it was only upon closer inspection that he was able to remark the differences were not natural; it was blood.

Baskerville howled in the distance and it wasn't a second later that the creature stepped through the wall padding over the stone floor with his long, sharp claws. Blood marred his muzzle which dripped with each step he took until he licked it all with his long red tongue. His master followed shortly carrying the unconscious fledgling in his arms. Twin bite marks on the right side of her throat marked that status. Her left temple bleed from long and deep cut, but the majority of her blood loss was due to the obvious bite mark which had almost destroyed her left thigh: the femur was broken and muscle and femoral artery severed beyond repair. Her skin was deadly pale.

"You still seem displeased." The raven teen speaks breaking the silence. The hound grunted shaking its fur before looking towards his master for a sign of dismissal. The vampire's eyes merely glow and Baskerville disappeared.

"Worms are to be walked upon, not empowered."

Alucard dump the woman's body without caring if she hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces; he just let her fall. A coffin rose from a portal in front of his feet like a newborn island form the depths of the dark ocean. The wood was light brown, almost caramel in color, while the interior a very pale yellow instead of deep crimson.

"A meal is a meal nonetheless. The taste of innocence has not changed."

The lid of the coffin closed encasing the newborn vampire in her coffin. The portal then swallowed her up relocating her to a different part of the castle.

"Will she last?" Walter asks moving towards the vampire with the stake still clutched in his right hand.

"A weak horse cannot rise beneath the lashed of its master." Alucard's crimson eyes met the angel's blue ones brandishing a rather wicked grin. "However, she may yet prove useful."

"Too hunt you down?"

Alucard laughed showing off his fangs. He has given his answer.

"Still you must have at least enjoyed her suffering, you always do." Walter stops directly in front of him. "And Miss Victoria was once a fledgling too. Virgin blood is not that different."

"A spineless, cowering, girlish and naïve child." Each word be littered Seras's personality exposing one flaw after another, yet despite the harshness of those same words and the melancholy hidden beneath, his voice was still soft towards the end; soft and lost in thought. "A proud human…beautiful…"

"Is this what you want then?" Walter asks raising the stake between them. "You know as well I do this won't kill you."

"It will kill me in a different manner. For as long as the blood of Hellsing lives my curse will continue. No amount of blood otherwise given will ever suffice. Freely given or not. It was always just a game Walter."

"Waiting for Integra to die will take you forever. I will not allow it." The butler's eyes held a firm promise.

"I don't have to." Alucard grins. "Things will work to my advantage either way regardless of what you or anyone else will do. However," he pauses narrowing his eyes. "**I** will cause her no harm. I have no need to. Nothing will be the same after tonight."

"What will this do Alucard, exactly?" Walter's tone hardens demanding the truth.

"It will kill _me_."

"You can't die."

"I know."

A moment passes between before a _hint_ at understanding fills the teens mind and he drops the arm holding the stake.

"I see. That is quite a gamble."

"She is worth it." Alucard replies sternly.

Walter remains quite and looks over his right shoulder at the metal table behind him. "I have been meaning to ask you." His voice softens and the change in his eyes reveals the depth of his thoughts. "How could you let her go?" he does not turn his head to look back at vampire.

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did." Their eyes met again.

"We don't always get to do what we want." Once more he avoided the subject.

"That's no the answer I wanted vampire."

"It's the only one you're getting angel. Stop stalling."

Unfortunately, Walter does not stop. "Will she still know you this time? Still care the same way."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's all I can hope for."

Silence descends upon the two men as the torched begin to grow weaker and their light starts to fade.

"Destroy my coffin once you're done. Burn it." The vampire's irises glow in the place of the flames.

"Agreed."

The room is bathed in darkness.

A cry of pain and the heavy scent of blood fill it moments later.

_The bird of Hermes was my name._

_._

_._

_._

_To be continued…_

See you next time, and I would appreciate a little review.

Bye, bye


	16. Chapter 16

I've corrected Makube's name from Mokube as firstly written in the previous chapters; I finally noticed the mistake after checking it once more on wiki.

Enjoy.

**Chapter 11 **

A lone figure sat quietly resting his back against the windowsill with his left leg drawn up to his chest and the right hanging down from the perch he sat on in front of one of the windows in the infirmary. Beside him, not all too far away, was the bed in which a young, pregnant mother slept peacefully. The hour was a little over 7 and yet the sky was already cast in total darkness. A strong, yet sturdy wind howled outside as flake upon flack of frozen water descended from the heavens above littering the snow covered ground.

The young teen's thoughts were far away as he sat there leaning against the wall with his head partially turned to the left towards the window and his reflection starring back from within the clean slate of glass. His eyes were halfway narrowed and his gaze drifted of in the distance somewhere beyond the borders of the estate and the surrounding wall he could fairly see close to the horizon. For the past ten minutes now he'd been pondering on whether or no to wake her, though the latter seemed all the more appealing each time he took a moment to gaze in her direction from the corner of his eye.

Time was slowly running out and the feeling of dread hovered over his head like a sword ready to strike inflicting irreparable damage.

_Flashback_

_"Alucard." __Walter's voice breached through the wall of darkness surrounding him. His gaze lifts up from his hand and catches a mere glimpse of the teen as a fraction of the darkness recedes parting the way for him to approach. Neither of the two spoke, not even when face to face with the fallen angel standing in front of the defeated vampire._

_Alucard stays quite without raising his head or his eyes, but in letting the journal drop to the floor next to his boots he has already asked his question: 'Yes?'_

_"Tell me about Integra."_

_"The conversation would be a pointless one." He eventually sighs after an initial moment more of hovering on the edge of his own thoughts._

_"Not that."_

_Though Walter could not see it Alucard's lips curled into a subtle smile that lingered on his face even as he finally shifted in his seat in order to look at the teen._

_"You mean __**that**__ then."_

_"Yes."_

_"Either answer would be the same." The vampire turns his head away with a sigh and brings his right hand up to his face, a full glass of blood wine appearing in it._

_"That is still not what I want."_

_"Of course it isn't." The vampire chuckles as he straightens his position so that his back and shoulders can rest more comfortably against the chair and his right arm has the room it needs to play with the glass in question. "What you want is time."_

_"No." Walter corrects him. "Just the notion of time."_

_"Whatever part of my blood left inside her is failing Walter. You know as well as I do no Hellsing can ever truly hope to free me. That alone was the whole point and Abraham's sole purpose. He realized that sooner or later I would become more than a simple servant and that one day one of his descendents would fall pray to the notion of __**freeing**__ me. The freedom she gave last year was nothing more than a mere outlet of power. Just like Millennium. I can never be freed by mere humans as much I would want to."_

_"Tell me Alucard."_

_The smile fades from the vampire's lips and his gaze becomes much more serious as he crosses his legs one over the other. He turns his attention to the glass in his hand and the slow motion of his hand as he gently stirs the blood inside. The crimson of his irises reflectes the look warm liquid inside the cup as he brings it closer to his face, but does not take a sip. "Maybe a day or so more." His answer is solemn and heavy._

_"Which one?" Walter presses further._

_"There is no certainty to it." Alucard replies. "I can feel her fading away Walter, her blood is getting very weak and her body as well. She will not survive the birth on her own nor will she be able to bring that child into this world."_

_"And if she does?"_

_"There is no such option."_

_The teen clenches his right fist as soon as the phrase reaches his ears and his gaze lowered, eyes becoming hidden behind his short bangs. _

_"There is always such an option. You are already taking it, why should I not as well?"_

_"Because, in the end, she's only human. Do not forget that."_

_Walter's face remained hidden, yet what managed to somewhat surprise the ancient vampire was the strange sketched grin now marring the corners of his lips._

_"We'll see." He then says turning around and moving without a sound towards the door._

_"Fate will have you gone angel just like then and just like now. All true Hellsings are forged in blood."_

_Walter continued to walk away despite the strong urge to stay and contradict the vampire. He would see the ancient one wrong._

_Flashback end_

"Damn it." He curses hitting the wooden side of the window with his fist hard enough to cause the entire glass to shake. It almost shatters, almost. For a whole day now he's pondered his next move and the vampire's words, yet each one ended with Integra alone and unguarded. The white envelope inside the left side inner pocket of his dark violet vest was an extra reminder of that same fact. The majority of the staff had been reassigned and _conveniently_ removed from the premises by order of the other Knights. Still he could give a damn about them, but there was one important factor he could not dismiss so easily: the missing doctor. The coward had left without a word despite the serious nature of his patient's condition. Worst of all, despite his insistence and attempt at finding him, he could not locate the man. All funds had been cut and even the majority of their weapons supply had been taken by the departing soldiers. How truly convenient the entire situation had become in the mere span of a day no less.

Not even the freshly turned vampire proved to be a worthy conversation piece and was dismissed by McCoy as soon as Walter had reported the deed done to him. 'We'll discuss it later' had been the man's reply and nothing more. The circle was closing in far too quickly and Alucard was only adding fuel to the fire by slightly _complicating_ things with his own desires: freedom.

Walter couldn't help but smile at the ironic thought. And to think all it took was a 19 year old little girl barely stepping into adulthood and her innocent blue eyes. He had not expected Alucard to leave so suddenly before the baby was due to be born. It changed everything and not for the better. Of all the days to…be so selfish.

Hitting the window had put an end to Integra's light sleep. She stirred in her sleep scrunching her nose and curling her body a bit more into the fetal position she rested in as she lay on her right side beneath the covers. Her left arm curled around her swollen womb and her eyelids flickered open, head slightly turning away from the warmth and comfort of the pillow.

A light touch joined her hand over the blanket as Walter nuzzled the crook of her neck affectionately before rising just in time to meet her gaze. He stood knelt by the head of the bed with his left knee up and the right on the ground.

"Is it time?" he asks softly feeling how restless the tiny being was beneath his palm

"No…" Integra replies only immediately grunt in pain and bury her face back into the warmth of the pillow and bring her knees up to her chest. Her entire body tensed curling even more.

"This will be a problem." Walter states as two strong kicks meet his open palm. Leaving now was proving more and more difficult.

"I just…need more medicine…"I struggled to catch a breath as each kick seemed stronger than the one before."The doctor…"

"He's gone. Almost everyone is gone Integra. We are being, set up." As he spoke he pulled the white envelope from his pocket. The envelope in question bore the seal of the royal family, the seal itself broken as he read the contents. He let it drop onto the bed beside her. "McCoy's been put in charge of the Hellsing organization and _Alucard_ and I must attend a mission tonight. Most of the soldiers have been reassigned and…" he pauses, gaze hardening. "I burned his coffin." the words confirmed the slight smell of smoke and ash coming from him. And upon closer inspection his white shirt was smeared with black on more than one spot. "And removed the _sickness_ in his heart." The second phrase came more of a shock than the first. To allow not only the burning of his coffin, but also the desecration of his heart…

"What?" she can't help but ask knowing full well what the word 'sickness' implied.

"And held it within my grasp." He adds removing his right hand from her womb and turning his palm upward so that his hand takes the shape of a cup. "And felt the chill of his blood and the stillness of his heart as it bled in my hand staining the dungeon floor. There are no longer three of us in the game. And I fear it might have been a far greater risk that first calculated."

"Why did you dahhh…" a new wave of pain hit her hard along with the unmistakable sensation of wetness spreading over her pajama pants and all around her lower abdomen. She grunts in pain holding in the urge to cry out, but the strong contractions make it difficult. This wasn't false labor any more; there was no stopping it this time.

With her face halfway buried in the pillow she took in a few much needed breaths before opening her eyes once more. She wasn't sure if it was just her water that broke or blood as well.

"Are you…" Walter asks not missing the sudden, though short lived, sight of dread appearing on her face. His question is thus natural, even if it was cut short rather abruptly.

"No. No."

"You lie." He could easily tell.

"When I want your opinion I'll kindly ask for it." Integra smirks despite the obvious discomfort and for a moment he smiles in return before his gaze falls on the womb as if knowing what the problem was. He places his right hand back over it earning another kick from the baby inside.

"I haven't broken so much that you won't _seriously_ consider lying about this." As he speaks his gaze turns back to her face. "Tell me."

"Even if I were labor still takes hours."

"I'm not leaving." He tells her anticipating the words left unspoken. "You are not listening to me. Why would any of this be more important…"

"Because it's out God damned duty. Don't break that."

"You really aren't listening." The teen can't help buy smile ironically and lean his forehead against his left hand.

"Walter…"

"Do you want to die?" he finally asks raising his voice to her just a little and feeling as though he was on the edge of a cliff with one foot on the ground and the other hanging over the edge itself. "Don't you understand? Alucard is gone and I…"

"Alucard can't die Walter." With a deep breath she calms herself while attempting to do so with him as well. And the words 'Alucard' and 'death' never joined together in a sentence; they were simply incompatible.

"He can if I ram Abraham's fucking stake through his heart." He unwillingly curses letting out some of his frustration as he removes his hand while speaking, eyes hard and filled with anger. Still he cannot maintain the disposition long when the look she gives him in return is so caring and understanding. He sighs dropping his head altogether so that his forehead lands on the edge of the pillow next to her head. "At least it hurt like hell."

"Why would you do that?" she asks softly burying her left hand into his short raven hair. Her fingers caressed his scalp moving gently over the top of his head.

"He asked me to" Walter sighs once more before offering his reply; his head remains down.

"Why?"

"I have no idea. He just told me too and after all this time…"he pauses for a moment. "I just wanted it. I longed for the same gratification as that day when London burned. When I pierced his heart it felt…"

"Gratifying?" she asks with a very small smile. She off al people knew best how well the vampire could get under someone's skin and just drive them over the edge.

"Empty." He corrects her whispering in defeat with a prolonged exhale and a deep sigh. "Just empty…"  
>"It's alright." Integra whispers back placing her right cheek over his head.<p>

"Nothing is alright." He sighs anew placing his right hand over hers on his head and entwining their fingers together before removing it from his hair and dropping both on top of the mattress. "The men have been recalled, the doctor will not be here to deliver the baby and Alucard has suddenly decided to be all noble and join his draculina in madness. It's all fucking perfect."

"I can't die unless you take my name." she tells him calmly seconds before another strong contraction takes over her body making her squeeze his hand tightly. She smiles, but it's a fake smile. "Or have you forgotten so quickly, my angel? You have to cross my name in you little black book."

"That wasn't….I had to tell you something." He sighs raising his head. "It's nothing real, just another damned book."

"You will come back and cross it if I die." She says fighting to keep her expression as relaxed as possible. The feat was proving itself harder by the minute due to the increasing pain in her lower abdomen. "And if you aren't man enough to make that decision I'll make it for you." Her tone turned fierce and commanding. "Get the hell out of here Walter. Go do your damn duty."

The contraction that follows is so painful she can't help but curse and squeeze his hand so hard her knuckles turn white.

"Do not ask me to leave." He almost begs squeezing her hand in return.

"You have never needed my approval before."

"And you got shot for it."

"We do what we think is right to survive." It a twist of fate she takes refuge in the ancient vampire words, words she know the angel of death has heard before if not used before himself. Her words have an immediate effect as his blue eyes flicker in understanding and even remembrance of the last time he'd last heard them directed at him. Now, however ironic it was, both the use and meaning had not changed despite being passed to another recipient. "All those standing against us must be reduces to ash. Hellsing will never fall. Therefore, you shall obliterate all obstacles that stand in your path and do it no matter who it might be. Do it no matter what it might be."

"Why are you asking this of me?" his question is but a faint whisper as his eyes search her pain stricken face. And instead of immediately replying, the expecting mother takes a moment before speaking.

"Go and redeem yourself." She smiles for only a seconds worth then lowers her head back on the pillow and a takes a deep calming breath.

"That's just selfish." Walter says with a sigh unable to hide the tiny smile gracing his lips.

"Then you shouldn't have come back."

"I guess not."

Bringing his left arm up and around her head he caresses her left cheek pushing a few stray platinum strands behind her ear.

"Get going."

"As you wish, Milady."

Lowering his head he captures her lips in a gentle kiss that soon becomes more intense and passionate as he leans over her slowly pushing her onto her back.

"You are not allowed to die."

The words come so fast they linger like a gentle whisper against her moist lips before disappearing in but a second after their arrival. And when her eyes reopen the window next to the bed stood halfway open allowing the cold winter air to seep through. The fingers of her right hand which had held his only a moment ago now curl around the stem of along black feather. The touch was light at first but then, as another strong contraction took over, her grip increased tenfold breaking the base of the feather. And with it tears seeped from the corners of her eyes; the promise could not be kept.

And both of them knew it.

The sound of gunfire did not take long to appear and echo in the distance beyond the locked door of the infirmary. Integra curses in both frustration and pain from the particular powerful contraction as she struggles to get out of bed not an hour after being left alone. By now the sheets were partially smeared in blood, the flow slow yet constant.

Meanwhile…

"Take care of this Jonah and make sure to wake up our captive angel when done." Heinkel Wolfe orders as one of the many waves of gunfire ceases in the west wing of the manor and another on the floor above their heads. Her eyes, though hidden behind the dark lenses of her glasses, gazed behind her to the ebony haired man with dark green glasses walking behind her. His hood was up once again hiding the majority of his features as well as the color of his hair.

"I will find the Hellsing bitch."

More shots echoed all around.

_Flashback_

_"This is your decision then?" Makube's words come somewhat strained under the weight of the decision just reached._

_"It is." McCoy replies leaning back into his chair and lighting a cigar._

_"We are men of the cloth and in no way your personal hired assassins."_

_"Nor have I claimed you to be."_

_"And yet your means of dealing with the situation at hand implies such an act."_

_"No, no." he quickly interjects. "Forgive me, perhaps I did not make myself clear enough. I never meant to imply your priests were required to kill humans. However," his eyes narrow as he takes a deep breath of his cigar and then exhales the grayish smoke form his lungs. "In the name of God all impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. And you as the representative of the Catholic Church have a sworn duty to protect those souls. What you'll be dealing with will be the undead, nothing more. As old as the world may be she is still a whore bound by the power of coin. And I have both means and opportunity."_

_"Vampires then?"_

_"Vampires, freaks, ghouls name your pick. The Hellsing organization has been slaughtering their kind for centuries so who amongst them would not whish to see the might fall. Everything has a prince and where there is a price there are those willing to spend for it."_

_"Yet the lives you gamble with are not your own."_

_"London is infested Makube. Somewhere in the shadows there's this whole retched honey hole of the undead I will see stomped like the ants that they are. Killing one or two at a time may be gratifying to you or Integra, but I plan on wiping them all out. The sole humans you will be encountering will be the soldiers who are more than equipped to deal with an attack and are trained to understand the risks involved. However, if their lives pose such a great problem to you I will see them removed from the picture."_

_"I have heard enough." Heinkel speaks up leaving her post by Makube's side. She stops directly in front of the door, hand on the handle. "Whatever you decide Dornez is mine. He has a debt to pay. As for the pet vampire," her lips curled into evil grin underneath the bandages covering the lower half of her face. "I will see my sword pierce through her pagan little heart for good this time."_

_The door closes with a loud bang behind her._

_Flashback end_

Integra had almost reached the door, her hand reaching out for the handle, when she doubled over falling to her knees in excruciating pain.

"Ahh!" she grunts panting unable to stand up any longer. Warm liquid pours down her legs, a deep crimson that stains both her pants and the lower part of her top. She was hemorrhaging severely.

"Damn it….ahhh…" she struggles to sit up fighting against the pain with little successes as the latter rips through her lower body with such strength it forces her onto her back. The contractions were more and more frequent, but the pain was excruciating.

"Shit…" she curses weakly before she's forced to clamp her jaws shut and hold the cry threatening to pass her lips."Ahh!" She screams, head tilting backwards as her back arches with the powerful contraction. All the while the pool of blood beneath her lower abdomen kept growing. Her heart rate was speeding and her skin was becoming more and more pale.

The door burst open, both the lock and handle ripped in two from the force of the blow sustained. Heinkel Wolfe stepped in leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind her and a second trail of small droplets from the bayonet she carried in her left hand. A gun was in her right.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. It's time you met God."

The gun in her hand went off seconds after she finished talking, the shot itself echoing loudly before loosing its voice amongst the chaos outside of the room. The bullet tore through her left shoulder shattering her clavicle and the dome of her lung.

"Dornez took something precious from me now I take it back. Be it by far for me to deny God his will and your imminent death."

Thick black smoke seeped through the open door of the infirmary along with the tell tale signs of ginger flames: the hall had been set on fire.

"A stake though the heart, a bullet in the head…" the second shot hit the floor directly next to Integra's left cheeks grazing her flesh. "Burn the corps and scatter the ashes at a crossroad. Well I don't have a crossroad, but I can more than provide the fire."

Chuckling Heinkel steps forward crouching next to the fallen knight's head and removing her glasses from her face as to reveal uncaring green eyes that held not even the slightest consideration for the child she was killing along with its mother. Integra coughed chocking on her blood and grunting in pain. Without warning her head was jerked upward by Heinkel's hand gripping a fistful of her long platinum locks. "In the name of God all heretics shall burn until the shame of their sins is washed by the flames of justice." She hisses the words in Integra's ear with the same deadly intent as the sharp edge of the bayonet currently pressed against the back of her neck.

"I wonder if I'll get as much as a meager cry."

The blade cut through the silken mass of platinum blond hair with incredible speed easily severing the locks from their base as well as grazing the back of her neck and drawing blood. Integra's head hit the floor hard afterwards, her hair now boyish short in the back and somewhat longer in the front where the length had not been so drastically altered.

"Die well Sir Hellsing. Or better still, burn well. And do not worry the world will not know any different."

Loosing consciousness the knight never hears all of Heinkel's word as more black smoke fills the room an her skin becomes paler and paler as the blood she's loosing stains her clothing and the carpet beneath her and all the while the tiny little heartbeat inside her womb grows more and more restless. Smoke was chocking her and the hall was already in flames.

The entire wing of the grand manor was in flames burning like a small orange sun against the night sky and melting the blanket of snow surrounding it as well as the falling flakes. A black limousine stood parked outside of the broken front gate.

"I'm surprised you aren't sending me out there as well." Alucard's voice resonated within the enclosed interior of the car seconds before his features melted away and those of the vampire Nicolae came forth.

"Why? Do you wish our agreement changed so soon?" McCoy replies sitting opposite of the vampire on the backseat with his laptop open in his lap and fingers rapidly moving over the keyboard.

"Our agreement is nothing but paper floating on water. I could turn on you right now and so could you regardless of any previous spoken terms."

"And?" The light brown haired man questions looking up for a second; he does not stop his typing.

"I suggest putting an end to our agreement before the priest finds out. It would be dangerous for you when both the vampires and Iscariot find out you dabble on both fields. I propose new terms of neutrality so to speak."

"And I should consider them because?"

"I could snap your neck right now and be done with it. For all you know about vampires you truly know nothing at all. The Iscariot organization has been after more than Hellsing's pet." Nicolae smirks choosing to rephrase his words. "Alucard….Dracula…." As he speaks the vampire's name his tone somewhat darkens.

"You wish him dead? You would not be the first."

"No." the answer comes a bit as a surprise given the way in which the vampire's name had been used. "What I have is a debt to pay, but that won't stop me from doing the things I want."

"What you want or what others are making you do under false pretext?" McCoy finally stops typing long enough to offer the vampire his full attention.

"Would either answer make a difference?"

"Not to a dead man." McCoy smirks and his onyx eyes take on an unnatural gleam. "Tell me where the vampire has gone Nicolae."

"Nicolas." The vampire corrects him without fail. "And I believe he has gone _home_."

"And has he taken his fledgling with him?"

"I have relocated for the time being." Nicolas replied. "But I am curious, do you intend on using her for your own goals or just as more firewood for Iscariot's fire?"  
>"She's mine for the time being. After that you may do with her what you like considering her master's leash does not reach that far."<p>

"It doesn't, there is no leash. She's _dust_ made and broken by the wind. You should not standardize vampires judging by only one example. Just because Alucard has kept his toy for a while doesn't mean others do the same. It is merely a whim."

"What do you want?" McCoy eventually asks returning his attention back to the laptop and his typing. "When all of this is done, I mean?"

"To play."

The man snorts, his comment ready and sarcastic. "If you have no better p…"

"And perhaps…..even death." The vampire's crimson eyes express a sudden seriousness as he offers only a small fraction of his true intent. "In the end…" his body fades into nothingness with seconds to spare before the door of the car opens and Makube steps inside, his own car not far away as it had, only moments ago, pulled up next to the parked limousine. The door closes with a loud thud behind him muffling the noise of destruction coming from outside.

"Should you be here Makube? The situation is quite dangerous for a man of your position. After all it is not quite wise for us to meet so out in the open considering those left outside that have yet to be eliminated."

"I am well protected. You on the other h…"

"As am I." McCoy stops his typing yet again turning his gaze towards the elder gentleman. "Have you finished your end of the deal? As you can see I have removed all those _innocent_ of the matter. All that remain are insects needed to be crushed."

"Heinkel will take care of everything. But I have come to ask about this new vampire Integra has been keeping, where is he?"

"He should be with the angel of death posing as…"

"He is not." Makube quickly interjects. "I have the angel, but the lack the demon. And now I find myself lacking his ally. I want that vampire."

"And if he has gone?"

"Then find him, you're good at that. Alucard is not my main concern at the moment and Henkel will continue to play with the angel a while longer, but in the end I have all of them fall. More so she will give proper cause for the angel to fight against the demon once more."

"Then you have nothing to fear, do you?" McCoy replies returning to his typing. As far as he was concerned the conversation had come to an end.

"Wake up." Heinkel hisses hitting the raven haired over the head forcing him awake. A deep cut on his forehead bleeds profusely bathing the entire left side of his face in crimson red liquid that drips down his chin onto the ground below. His black wings are exposed with the right awkwardly bend and broken while the left was held down much like both his shoulders by two of Henkel's men, one of them being Jonah. A good amount of distance was between their position and that of the house keeping them at bay from the heat of the flames.

"Have you seen it yet?" she hisses next to his right ear as he grabs a fistful of the youths hair jerking his head up so that he can see the roaring flames and the pitch black smoke engulfing more and more of the manor. Walter's first instinct was to fight against the hold and break free, but then his eyes widen in shock at the apocalyptic sight and the waves upon waves of fire emerging out of the opened infirmary window and the burning scrap of cloth that had once been part of the curtains sticking out of it.

"From ashes we rise to ashes we return." Pulling his head back even further Heinkel stabs the right side of his bent throat with injecting him with an unknown substance that takes effect almost instantly causing his breathing to harden and his muscles to tense and ache with a dull pain that slowly starts to increase as the substance begins to spread throughout his blood vessels.

"Hurts to breathe, doesn't it?"

Not only that, but Walter was finding it more and more difficult to get his body to move and obey his command. There was already a strange substance within his body from when the vampire had inexplicably tuned on him in the midst of battle.

"The initial effect was to paralyze the muscles, but it worked much to fast and it always began, just like now, with the chest suffocating its victim to death."

Heinkel let's go of his hair and instead steps behind him to shove her left foot against his back and pin him down without effort or fear of retaliation; he was unable to move a muscle while his torso felt as if crushed by a large block of pure concrete. "The other injection will counter the rapid progression of the poison. However," she smirks pushing one of her bayonets into the ground in front of him. "That is the least of your problems. I grow tired of your constant interfering."

Grabbing his broken wing she pulled and twisted it as Jonah took care of the other one. Fast and without a word he broke and cut if off throwing away the bloody remains and leaving nothing but a small bleeding stump as his victim was raked with pain unable to do anything against it. The angel's cries could hardly stand out amongst the sounds of the nearby carnage: vampires and priests well still at war.

"Blasphemy!" Heinkel stomps on the freshly made wound grinding the heel of her boot against it. "And intolerable!" She repeats the motion whilst also twisting the broken wings anew relishing in his cries.

Reaching for the blade she'd discarded earlier she grabbed its hilt and quickly twisted the blade so that its sharp edge moved behind the body of the wing. More feathers joined the already fallen ones even before she finished her sentence. The wing was cut above the broken point leaving a good piece of its base still in place.

Heinkel then let go of the remains and moves to stand in front of the teen, the tips of her boots coming up a few cm away from his head as he free hand searches the left side pocket of her grey coat.

"Ash to ash…" thin strands of platinum fell into Walter's line of vision as he struggled to raise his head and keep it up so that his gaze could reach the middle of her calves. One by one the hairs multiplied as they fell in similar fashion to the frozen snowflakes. "And dust to dust…" the chuckling never stopped and it wasn't long before the entire mass of cut hair seeped from Heinkel's fingers.

"And I have wondered…"

As the woman speaks Jonah takes hold of the remaining wing following the unspoken order laced within her sentence; he brings his own bloody bayonet next to it ready to accomplish the order. "If I would get as much as a tear from you."

In the midst of the burning inferno and undead ash littering the snow with dark grey stains, the last part of the remaining wing was cut. And with it, the two small stumps remaining at the base scrapped from his flesh.

Cries were lost to the wind with almost each cut the sharp edge of the blade inflicted on the angel's back.

When done blood littered the snow all around the raven haired teen's upper body as he lay there panting barely able to breath properly any longer. It was agony; every breath was an immense strain his muscles protested against...**agony**. His arms were bent in front of his head, hands balled into fists, gripping the cold snow.

"These would be yours as well." With her men having backed up from the bloody scene it left the two alone by the side of the burning building; the fire still strong and raging. As she moved around the broken and fallen body of the young butler she threw him a pair of glasses, the lenses broken, that landed on the snow covered soil next to his right shoulder forcing the weaker of the twin lenses to shatter entirely while the other detached itself completely from the frame. Walter's back was scarred, cut open and bloody by the bayonet's blade; dark violet feathers scattered the soil all around him and the pool of blood surrounding both sides of his torso.

"The world shall be cleansed of its trespasses." Heinkel chuckles in remembrance. "They were once Yumie's words." And then proceeds to stomp the glasses further into the ground.

"You took her from me now I take her back." Her boot clad foot then makes contact with the right side of his face once and then his clavicle twice effectively breaking it. When she stops she does so with a new blow to the head as she steps on it rather forcefully. "First it was you then that fucking dog who blew half my face off. And then you took one arm and one leg. I can still remember the pain, the pain of you taking them and the pain of getting them back." As she speaks she pushed further against his skull allowing gravity to enhance the damage her weight could inflict.

"From the moment I found out you were _alive_ again I dreamt of inflicting equal pain on you. But then you showed up with these retches wings, _blasphemy_!" her foot stops on his already fractured clavicle making him cry out in the pain as the bone shatters even more.

Meanwhile, both Jonah and the second man had begun collecting the individual feathers until each one had been picked up ready for the flames. "Now you can suffer for death is a kindness far too good for the likes of you. The poison will last a while and it has no antidote. So when you survive, and you most likely will, I will come and see just how well you fare lacking that which you held so dear. And so you know," Henkel removed her boot from his shoulder and crouches in front of him grabbing a fistful of his hair and jerking his head up.  
>"I felt such gratification shooting that bullet through the heart of Hellsing itself."<br>Walter's heart skipped a beat and his eyes betrayed the shock of her words knowing exactly what she was implying. "A shame though about the baby, a real shame." Her knee met his right temple cutting the skin open from the force of the blow.

"A shame I felt nothing towards it." Her laughter filled the night air resonating along with the sound of the big and bright red flames and the crackling wood and quite simply destruction. Walter's reaction was immediate, yet the pain his body experienced as soon as he dared to move grounded him; the slimplest of movements felt as if his muscles were forcefully pulled apart and ripped in half. He barely managed to raise his upper body on his elbows before falling back on the snow with several broken ribs as the muscles of his chest and back contracted in a powerful spasm.

"I had forgotten to mention," she chuckles placing her black tinted glasses back over her eyes. "The first drug also had an interesting side effect. Better not move too fast now."

Her boots left deep imprints in the virgin white snow as the distance between the two enemies increased.

"Ahh!" The angel gathered his strength forcing his body to comply too his command and stand. Both his arms and legs shook with the effort while his chest became so rigid he couldn't take a full breath of air.

"We're leaving."

The two accomplices turned around after having disposed of the black feathers and followed Heinkel, their own footprints leaving visible marks on the snow.

"Stop! Walter shouted jerking up to his feet in a movement that almost severed the lower part of his spine and neck and broke more of his ribs while also dislocating his left shoulder. His pupils shrank from the shock of the pain and he fell to his knees coughing up blood. His forehead hit the ground while his body remained unnaturally bend. He panted with a murderous gaze hidden behind wet bangs and blood; a gaze that followed the Iscariot soldiers. Rage grew inside his eyes just as the fire engulfing the manor did; the bright crimson flames reflected in the almost black color of his pupils.

.

.

.

The loud below of a nickering horse echoed in the distance despite the young man's failed attempting to soothe the large black stallion. The horse tugged at the rope binding him to the remains of what had one been a high and sturdy post. The cord was tied in a loop around the base of his thick, muscular throat and scrapped against his beautiful midnight blue coat as he kept pulling at it in order to free himself. His powerful hind legs propelled him forward each time he fought against his restraints jerking the base of the post back and forth and gradually loosening the soil around it. He grunted and sneered avoiding the man's touch each time the latter tried to reach for his head and the bridle around it. The stallion's long, wavy, charcoal colored mane moved around him like a wild wind as his large black eyes fixed the brown haired and green eyed man with his gaze. The black leather reins attached to the bridle were loose and hanging down in from of him while being partially covered in mud much like his hooves from his persistent movement and obsessive stomping over the semi solid soil beneath him. The wooden post screeched at the constant tension running through it and the sound itself lessened each time the horse backed up a step before jerking forward tugging on the rope anew.

"Stop moving you damn beast." The green eyed youth curses in frustration finally able to make a grab hold of the reins and pull on them to get the horse to stop. Unfortunately, this only succeeded in infuriating the creature more causing him to lash out so violently he broke the post in two as the upper 2/3 of the wooden piece gave way with a thunder like bellow. The horse all but trampled the boy under his massive hooves as the momentum of his pull propelled him forward in an almost jump like fashion.

The young man fell backward, hands raised protectively in front of him in the sole defensive gesture he could thing of as the horse's front hooves hit the ground directly in front of his feet before raising himself on his hind legs. He brought his front legs up to his chest roaring deeply from the pit of his large ribcage.

The splintered end of the broken post had struck the stallion in the left hind leg injuring him while the remaining body of the pole shifted sideways hitting him in over the outer side of his gaskin. The thick muscle mass of his shoulders and neck rippled and bulged beneath his black coat glistening with sweat as he prepared to hit and trample the boy beneath him. The latter in turn could do nothing other than pull his legs up to his chest and crawl into fetal position to save himself from the imminent and painful impact sure to come.

The horses front legs came crushing down with such force he made the small patch of soil vibrate as if caught in the midst of an earthquake form the impact as well as leave deep marks perfectly shaped like his hooves just mm away from his back. Unknown to the poor youngling an ivory pale hand reached out for the leather reins seconds before the horse engaged himself in the act and tugged his head towards the right making his body change direction for those few mm separating the line between life and death. Had it not happened the man's chest and back would have been crushed.

The horse grunts deeply, nostrils flaring as he exhales and chews on the metal bit. The same ivory hand touches his muzzle running upward along its length to calm him as the rope itself falls lifeless next to his feet, the knot untied.

"You show such little respect." The strange, yet highly alluring voice came as if out of a dream compelling the frightened young man to open his eyes in disbelief, his heart pounding like man inside his chest. An equally stunning face greeted his terrified eyes as they fell on the shimmering golden tresses standing out in such significant contrast to the pitch black coat of the horse. It made her seem all the more surreal. Her strange clothing stood out next, but her hidden face nestled behind that of the stallion proved to be biggest mystery of all.

"Paul." A second feminine voice called as a little girl, no older than 10, with long charcoal black hair tied in a braid and the same matching green eyes came running with a visible limp towards the fallen youth. Her clothes were just as simple as the man's with the exception she lacked the few pieces of amour for protection. It was her voice that propelled him to get up and back away by a few steps thus stopping her from going anywhere farther.

"He's not yours." Seras spoke anew this time turning her head in their direction. Her crimson eyes shone almost demonically as her lips sketched a smile showing off a hint of her right fang.

"Witch…" the little girl whispered ducking behind her brother, but having enough curiosity to peer from behind his left thigh and keep an eye on the _witch_.

"That…that doesn't concern you!" The teen shouted attempting to reach out for the reins thus adding gas to an almost extinguished fire as his brash movement startled the stallion who jerked back at the contact raising his head and neighing wildly. Every muscle in his body tensed anew and he would have charged had it not been for the woman's gentle touch and tender words.

"It's alright." She whispers leaning her right cheek against his forehead. "Your death doesn't really concern me, but stay away from him."

The glare she bestowed on the young man was truly frightening, yet he somehow found a way to hold his ground and was about to reply had the little girl not stopped him.

"Don't…" her small hands grab the edge of his brown tunic just under his breast plate. "Don't she's a witch." The child's words held no intended malice when referring to the golden haired woman as a witch. It was simply the only thing her young mind could come up in response to someone so otherworldly, foreign and different from anything she knew to be real in her short 10 years of life. Her small eyes wondered in both marvel and hesitance as she looked the foreign woman over: she'd come out of nowhere and the large horse obeyed her will as though she were his rightful owner. With a subtle grin Seras turns from the girl releasing the reins and circling the black stallion heading for its hind legs where she starts to inspect the spot the broken pole had hit him: a splinter lay embedded close to the knee which she removed without a hint of fear of being struck down by the large horse.

"How did you…."

"Who are you?" the young teen demands interrupting her and reclaiming control over the horse by grabbing hold of the reins. Yet instead of obtaining a proper answer he got a new question instead.

"Where is the master of this horse?"

As Paul pulled at the reins getting the horse to take a few steps forward the latter neighed in protest jerking his head up and moving backwards. Frustrated the young man pulled back aggravating the situation as if throwing dry straws on an almost extinguished fire. Seras's hand along his neck calmed the stallion instantly and although he continued to stomp the earth with his front right foot he remained calm, ears tilting to the left where the golden haired woman stood. Large black irises reflected her features the moment she reached his head and her right hand slipped under and around his head to rest on the opposite cheek. It was as though the horse recognized her despite never having seen her before.

"Beyond the village." The small child replies answering Seras's earlier question.

"Nana!" her brother chastises her as soon as the words pass her lips. Forgetting about the horse for a moment he walks up to her and grabs hold of her left upper arm turning her around do her back now faces the unknown woman. "What have I told you?"

"But she might help."

"You don't know that!" he shouts increasing the grip he had on her arm just a little more. Being his sister he'd taken a gamble at sharing a bit of information with her, but that did not mean she was free to shout it to the world. "Do not…"

The horse exhaled deeply following his new mistress. With the reins out of the inexperienced boy's hands there wasn't anything else holding him back. His large hooves flattened the grass beneath them as he walked swishing his tail and pressing the tip of his black muzzle into Seras's right shoulder in an affectionate gesture.

"Where is the village?" Seras asks completely uninterested in their small dispute.

"Who the hell are you?" Paul shouts finally noticing the horse's absence. Seras stops peering over her left shoulder. The crimson of her eyes darkens just enough to unnerve the boy while her lips curl upward showing off a tell tale hint of her pear white fangs. Her gaze fell directly on him cutting off his connection with everything else around him. For a moment all he could _hear_ was her voice inside his head.

"Are you a witch?" the dark haired girl asks her peering from behind her bother's waist, green eyes wide and shining with curiosity. She had failed to see the utter blank expression written all over the latter's face.

/Do you wish me to be?/ her voice echoes in the child's mind catching her by surprise especially when the woman's lips never moved. Nana gasps holding on tighter to her brother's leg, but as she finally looks up at him all she can see is the utter blank expression and dead eyes.

"Do you?" Seras repeats suddenly in front of the two children, left index finger touching the middle of the boy's forehead. His eyelids immediately drop, body instantly relaxing.

"What are you doing?" Nana questions raising her voice just a little as if attempting to intimidate the much older female. She almost bolts form the spot the moment Seras's hand drops from the boy to her head petting her gently.  
>"Noting important." Turning around she walks back up to the black stallion and takes hold of his reins; he doesn't even struggle against her and instead follows her obediently.<p>

"Wait!" Nana shouts after her unsure what to do when her brother had yet to move or utter a single word. "Paul..." She calls taking hold of the teen's left hand, but his hand is stiff and he continues to remain just as unresponsive. She then immediately turns her attention back to the golden haired witch demanding she undue her deed. "Turn him back!"

"No."

Seras replies coldly turning both herself and the stallion around in order to head in the correct direction she'd obtained by reading the teen's mind.

"Why?"

"I do not wish to." By the time the horse had passed the children as well and the space between them grew more and more, the girl became frantic.

"Wait, stop!" leaving her brother's side she ran to the best of her ability the few steps separating her from the so called witch and put herself in front of her path in a failed attempt to block her way. Seras only smiled and passed her without a word.

"Wait…" Nana's tone became more pleading as she mustered enough courage to take the strange woman by the left hand; she squeezes her wrist. "Please…"

As soon as the touch took place the draculina had no problem accessing the poor child's mind; a sweet little girl.

"If I did what would you give me?"

"Give?"

Seras lowered her gaze to the child, crimson meeting green, and she waited most patiently; such an interesting little thing, far more interesting than her sibling. "What do you want?" as soon as the words pass her lips Seras's lips can't help but curl in an amused smirk that soon fades and her gaze turns serious.

"Take me to the master of this realm."

"Why?"

"Do you wish him back or not?"

"Yes." She replies without fail.

"Then do as I say." Seras gently pries her hand away whilst keeping her eyes locked on the child who did not protest against her actions and obediently let go.

"Is that…is that all you want?" she hesitantly asks almost afraid of uttering the question.

"You can't give me any more." The draculina's reply is an honest one. She was starving. From the moment her eyes opened to a new world by the hot springs all she desired was blood. And having two potential victims so close and their blood so easily obtainable made it all the more harder to keep her hands off them.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm starving." Seras raises her tone hissing the words directly into the child's face whilst showing her exactly what she meant. Visions of blood and her fangs sinking into her flesh filled the little girl's mind as the vampire barred her fangs for her to see. It only made the girl's heart rate increase and the scent of pure fear and terror to surround her small body. The image of those fangs was forever embedded in her mind.

"Nosferatu…" she barely has the strength to whisper such a forbidden word let alone raise her gaze to meet the draculina's crimson eyes. Seras smiles, her extending fangs the most powerful statement she could ever have.

"Tell anyone and I will have your blood."

Nana could only nod as fast as possible holding in the instinct to flee for her life.

"Good girl." Seras purrs caressing the child's cheek with her left hand. The crimson of her eyes flashed and the trance holding her boy captive was broken.

The charred ruins of a once thriving village appeared over the horizon as Seras and her companions reached its outskirts. The ground was blackened from ash, fire and mud, the houses mostly burned to the ground with smoke still coming out of some of them. Paul had taken control over the horse anew, walking by his side holding the reins, while his sister sat upon the horse riding on his back giving her injured leg a rest. The village wasn't particularly large and the majority of the buildings couldn't be recognized because of the damage inflicted by the once raging flames.

"I'm thirsty." Nana whispers to her brother as they reach the middle of the village where an old well stood; a part of its circular stone structure broken.

"You know you can't drink from here Nana. It's not safe."

"But I'm thirsty."

"You'll drink when we get there. Be patient."

The village had been utterly destroyed and not by the enemy. The logic was simple: if there is nothing to take, nothing will be taken. No food, no water, no gold or lives; just charred earth.

And once the two passes the old well by Seras stayed on, lingering in her spot beside it. The horse stopped moving drawing the attention of the young teen, but the latter did not allow him to stop and instead pulled him forward getting him to move once more.

"She'll catch up later." He murmurs more to himself than to the horse peering over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of golden haired woman from the corner of his left eye. Nana turned her head as well, but offered no comment of her own. Ever since finding out…ever since seeing those fangs up close…her initial wonder turned into hesitation; she was afraid, yet still curious. Unfortunately she lacked the courage to face her again in the same manner she had in the beginning. She wasn't sure of the consequences. So for the moment she would listen to her bother and give the witch her desire.

"Keep your distance Nana." He then whispers to his sister making sure to keep his voice as low as possible. Seras's presence unnerved him, even more so after that incident he could not explain. He'd been compelled to obey and listed to her demand she be taken to see his master and although he knew he shouldn't he could not help it.

"Alright." she wouldn't protest anymore, her gaze drifting down to her hands.

Seras wasn't paying attention. Both her eyes and senses were focused on the blood soaked ground. Everywhere she turned the tall tale signs of death were as clear as day. There was such sadness to the place, and death, death was all around. The closer she got to the well the more blood she could sense; people had been gathered there and…killed. Killed in the wake of war then avenged and then the village had fallen from grace under a deep blanket of fire.

Blood had seeped through the cracks in the stone forming the well and the darkness within it, as she peered over the edge into its depths, held the yet open eyes of many buried beneath the calm over the murky water's surface. A twig cracked beneath her right foot causing her too look down from the well to her feet where she saw a blood soaked rag doll underneath a few thin sticks as well as the one she had stepped on.

_Grandpa, do you like it?_

The voice of a little girl somehow entered her mind seconds before her fingers touched the small object. It caused her to hesitate for just a moment before reaching out and picking it off the ground.

_Flashback_

_"I will ask again, where is it?" A reddish brown young man with green eyes was on the verge of loosing his patience while questioning an old man, his hair as white as snow, back slightly crooked and bent forward from age and dark brown eyes._

_"I do not know." The old man replies leaning into his cane for support. A small group of people had gathered around the town square to witness the event. Two more bodies already littered the ground, their blood soaking the ground. _

_"Do not take me for a fool!" _

_Without a second though he grabs hold of the old man's shirt and pushes him backwards until his back collided with the stone edge of the well; he bends him over it until the poor victim hangs over it with his legs barely able to support his weight any longer._

_"No please…."_

_"You dare lie to my face! You were seen drinking form it."_

_"I have not taken the cup. Please…" _

_"What is going on here?" _

_The crowd parted revealing several armor clad men; more were already riding and marching in the distance as they passed the village whilst marching in the ordered direction. Their path would lead them somewhere beyond the large hills to the south of the place. The man who spoke up was somewhere in his late 40is with just a few streak of grey marring his otherwise short raven black hair. Beside him was another elder gentleman with dark emerald green eyes and faded reddish brown hair and moustache. He on the other hand remained silent for the time being simply content on watching the actions of his son for the moment. _

_"Just dealing with a thief." The young red head says pulling the man from the well and shoving him to the ground in front of it and his feet. "String him up." _

_"No please, I have not done anything."_

_Two men moved to grab the man by his armpits and drag him the small distance between the old well and a nearby tree to the left. Once there one of the two threw a coil of rope over one of the more sturdy branches of the tree while the second tied the loose of that same piece of rope around the man's throat. They were just about to hoist him up when…_

_"Grandpa!" a little girl no older than 5 or 6 came running, her long chocolate brown hair tied in a braid and her large blue eyes full of concern. She squeezed her way through clutching a rag doll to her chest. Her tiny fist began pummeling against the red head's legs demanding he release her grandfather. _

_"Be quite!" the man in turn says striking the child over the head; she falls to the ground with a bloody lip loosing her doll which he then steps on as he gestures to the men to continue in their task._

_The rope shreds a good part of the branch's bark as the man is hoisted up almost to the point of loosing contact with the ground beneath his feet._

_"Stop this." the black haired man says coming from behind crowd. Though the law was the law and thieves were to be punished, it could not take place without proper judgment. And seeing that a mob had already been gathered he'd sought to gather the sole authority no one would dare disprove off or disobey. And with the army passing by so close he may be able to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. _

_"Why? Perhaps a loose neck will loosen his tongue as well."_

_"You don't have the authority to judge him, nor the proof."_

_"All have heard it, does it matter?"_

_"Grandpa…" the little girl cried crawling on the ground a little as the poor old soul was hoisted up off the ground._

_"It does." A different voice, the tone was harder and deeper. It immediately silenced the crowd which then parted in silence as more soldiers stepped forward following a tall, cloaked figure whose long and wavy raven hair cascaded down his shoulders, cloak and armor most beautifully. Piercing blue eyes held a deadly stare as he took a moment to study the situation and all the commotion._

_"Put him down." His tone vaguely holds a hint of emotion other than displeasure at being summoned so rudely for nothing but a petty dispute when other things held higher priority. _

_The old man fell to his knees coughing and panting for breath as the rope still hung loosely around his throat as well as the branch above his head. _

_"Explain." The warlord demands and the tone of his voice betrays his lack of patience._

_"Just punishing a thief." The red head replies with a somewhat far too smug expression written all over his face. "No need to trouble yourself my Lord." _

_"Liar…" the little girl mutters wiping her nose and the trickle of blood from her face with the back of her long sleeve. In the silence surrounding the adults the squeak of her voice sounded as loud as thunder. "You're a liar. Grandpa doesn't steal."_

_The man was just about to make her shut up upset she dared to speak in such a manner when in front of him, but the warlord's question made him halter in his rather brash actions. "What has he stolen?"_

_"It is about the golden cup you have gifted the village with My Lord." The raven haired soldier spoke calmly returning by his side. "It has gone missing and it is rumored this man might have taken it." _

_"People have seen him do it." The redhead was determined to have his way._

_With a barely audible sigh the Lord demands: "Bring them here."_

_It was nothing more than an insignificant incident and yet it was taking up far too much of his time. The golden cup in question had indeed been a gift to the townspeople in order to promote their own sense of honesty. Anyone might use to drink form the well as long as it remained there when finished. Stealing meant death. _

_"They are no longer available." The reply does not please the warlord and yet the man is quick to justify his actions. "I enforced the law as justified by what I was told. He is nothing but a lousy thief."_

_"Liar." The little girl discredited him once again finally having reached her grandfather's side._

_"You little…"_

_"Enough!" The warlord demands raising his voice and silencing them all._

_"Please…" the old grandfather spoke, his voice weak and hoarse. "My Lord I…I am no thief My Lord. I merely took a drink then left my granddaughter by the well until I purchased some food for the road."_

_"Then where is the cup?"_

_"I do not know." He answers truthfully dropping his gaze and turning it towards the little girl. "The last I saw Ana was taking a drink by the well before I paid for my produce."_

_Silence descended over the small group as the warlord looked the man over without uttering a single word. And when the redhead attempted to speak once more he merely met his eyes and the man was rendered silent. After that he stepped forward kneeling on his right knee as he called the child over to him._

_With a little push from her grandfather Ana steeped forward, her head barely reaching the middle of the warlord's chest as he stayed in that particular position. _

_"Tell me little one, what have you done by the well?"_

_"I drank some water. Grandpa said to wait for him there."_

_"And then?" his voice lost its harshness as he addressed the young child, his tone patient as he waited for her to speak. _

_"I played. The others started talking so I just played, with my dolly."_

_She turns around pointing to her toy still lying on the ground before turning around to pick it up. "I almost dropped her."_

_"And the cup by the well? You drank from it, yes?"_

_Ana hesitated in her reply and lowered her gaze for a mere moment._

_"Yes…But I didn't mean to drop it. I put my dolly next to it and she would have fallen."_

_"I see." The warlord replies sitting up and sparring the old man one last glance._

_"I'm sorry." The little girl continues. "But I didn't want to loose my dolly, grandpa made her for me. It was just a cup." Her voice became more of a whisper in the end as she justified the more important position of a simple rag doll than a heavy cup made from real gold. To her it was, as she said, just a cup._

_"Let them go."_

_"Let them go?" the redhead asks in disbelief. "But Sire you can't, the law…"_

_"Then fish the cup out of the well."_

_His words left no room for backtalk or debate. It was either do it or drop the subject entirely. _

_"Yes Sire." And though reluctant and stepping on his pride the man bowed his head in acknowledgement turning around and taking his men with him. Afterwards the warlord reached into his cloak and pulled out a small violet velvet pouch tied together by a golden colored piece of string which he then presents to her. The pouch held several golden coins inside. _

_"For your honesty little one."_

_The child merely looks at the offered gift, her eyes immediately catching the beautiful colors and the way the fabric shone in the sunlight rather than the possible contents._

_"It's pretty. You don't need it?"_

_"Ana…" her grandfather whispers knowing she should not talk in such a casual manner to the Lord of the land._

_"You may have it." Instead the man's voice is soft and gentle when offering the same gift a second time. His lips curl in a sketch of a smile that's barely visible due to the moustache hiding his upper lip. To that the child smiles happily in return accepting the beautifully crafted little pouch._

_"Thank you." She says reaching out and taking the gift, her fingers tracing the soft velvet once before turning around and presenting her gift to her grandfather. "Look grandpa, isn't it pretty?"_

_"Yes, yes it is." He replies before turning his attention to the man who'd saved his life. "Thank you."_

_Though their eyes meet the warlord says nothing and merely offers one final glance before turning around and departing. The rest of the soldiers followed suite._

_Flashback end_

With the distance between them growing more and more, Nana turns head once more wishing, despite everything, to see if the witch was still there. And although she's almost out of reach she sees the draculina standing by the well, her left hand extended towards its opening. For a moment nothing happens and the girl is just about to look away when the glistening surface of something golden in color catches her attention. And when the object turns, floating in mid air, the image of a golden cup has her release a tiny gasp that goes unnoticed by her brother.

The cup was rising from the depths of the well, rising on its own and floating there as if it were pulled by an invisible string.

It moved as if summoned until Seras's fingers curled around the cold metal and she brought it closer to her face for inspection.

"She is a witch…." Nana whispers to herself after quickly averting her eyes from the sight and turning her attention back on the road ahead as if afraid her words could have been heard. She fails to notice the way Seras studies the cup as well as the gentle smile that grazes her lips as she lingers for a moment on that particular memory: the gentle smile and patience of one whose life was blood and death, yet whose soul still held just a hint of _humanity_ and _love_.

She had heard the child, but she simply did not care.

With the village several miles behind them, all that remained of the three visitors passing was a clean golden cup glistening in the sunlight with a small rag doll inside of it; the doll still stained in the little girl's blood.

_Look grandpa, isn't it pretty?_

Yes, it had been most beautiful indeed.

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_To be continued…_

_Till next time._


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** Next chapter's up and I know it took a while, but I made several changes to the plot thus far. Originally, I only planned to keep Seras in Alucard's past for two more chapters(this one and the next), but I got a different idea as so two chapters turned into four. I wanted all for to be linked before posting one as not to discover discrepancies later one.

Also I got a few question's regarding the Walter's resurrection-nothing has yet changed that was not explained in the prequel(Angels fall). I have not yet gotten to the part of the story where the truth regarding his return will be explained in more detail. it will come up in later chapters.

2. The plot regarding Alucard and Seras at the moment: Seras is still trapped within the memories of Al's past and will continue to do so for the next three chapter. I had a moment in chapter in chapter 8 of the story(12 as posted) where I forcefully remove from it, but she returns in chapter 9 (13). it is a way to save her mind against Schrodinger's blood and although I'm making her loose most of memories she'll also be remembering moments forgotten or erased from her mind. More however, will be revealed as the story goes on.

3. Though no one asked, I'm including this small piece of information for later on. The part from chapters 10 and 11 regarding Al's request at Walter for using the stake on him: It's not killing Alucard, it can't, not really. I mean he doesn't even die in the manga when Anderson pierces his heart with a bayonet. I'm making it more of a symbolic death since it was the same stake used by Abraham. Alucard **will die**, but a true vampire's death. It will be my own personal and twisted version of it, more to be explained and included in later chapters once I finish this part of the story with Seras trapped inside his mind and past (meaning the 4th of 5th chapter after this one)  
>.<p>

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**P.s:** 1. Starting from July I won't be posting as frequent (maybe even put the story on hold) until the end of November. I have two very important exams coming up and won't have time to work on it.

2. Though I said that the story was mostly complete (around 70-80%) in an earlier chapter, I've decided to make further plot changes to and change the course of the story a bit. Because of that, with everything written so far including the material not yet posted, I'm considering the story more like 50% done. I'm adding new character's and taking out a few, changing dialogue I longer like and so forth, and it's basically going to be this long piece of fiction mostly concerning Alucard and Seras with Walter and Integra as the second main pair and some of the vampires aiding them as third.

3. There are multiple plots all happening at once in this chapter and all linked together, just so you know.

enjoy.

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**Chapter 12**

Thunder roared violently as if succeeding in ripping the sky apart. Heavy dark grey clouds blanketed the former clear blue sky bringing the prospect of a powerful storm all the more closer. Having stopped atop of a hill a little beyond the edge of the scorched village, Seras looked on ahead towards the valley below and the beginning of yet another vast forest further up ahead. And beyond that, in between two small crevasses in the mountain rock, was a mass of white which appeared to closely resemble some sort of camp. It was only due to the enhanced vision of her crimson eyes that the young vampire saw all of this, the two mortals limited only to the sight of the green man laid out in front of them. The forest was vast and the trees old and tall with tops that seemed almost black in color, a very dark green.

"It's as far as we go." Paul says pulling the reins down to pet the Friesian horse over his muzzle as the latter neighs, yet his large black eyes still stay focused on and attached to the golden haired woman to his right; the boy is to his left. "We will split up near the edge of the forest and meet at the base of that mountain there." He says whilst pointing forward, his finger pointing in the distance beyond the forest. "You should be able to get there safely if you follow the correct path and stay on it."

Paul then takes off without another word dragging the horse behind him as he turns to the left to take a different path than that of the dirt road leading from the village forest. The new path would take longer and through the dark forest, but it was far safer.

"We can't go in there." Nana quickly interjects and her fingers grasp the charcoal strands of the stallion's mane a little tighter. She was frightened and the prospect of entering the forest with the upcoming storm so close by wasn't something she was looking forward to. Terrible rumors surrounded the black forest: rumors of people walking in and never coming out and of structures raised up high in blood. "It's haunted."

"You'll be safe as long as you do not stray from the path." Paul repeats his earlier words of staying on the correct path thus hinting at the importance of the notion. "And father has taken us through it before and shown us the way to Comana. Father Justinian will be there to greet you, you need not worry."

"No we can't go in there, please." She pleads once more, yet her words meet deaf ears. The horse's large hooves leave tell tale signs in the soft soil crushing the green grass beneath them as the edge of the forest slowly comes into sight. "I don't want to…" Nana whispers as they stop just a few feet after passing through the trees and a strong gust of wind pushes them from behind as if urging them to go in deeper. The wind screeched as it passed through the many branches rattling them and it almost seemed like a ghostly whisper; a siren's song slowly approaching from within the thick grey fog slowly surrounding a boat full of unsuspecting sailors.

"You know the way." The young teen tells his sister after helping her descend from the horse and placing her back on the ground.  
>"But father was always there with us. And we always rode in a coach." she counters keeping her voice as low as possible while watching him kneel in front of her. "You would leave me with her?" it was the last ace she had up her tiny sleeve and although she held no true resentment for the <em>vampire<em> she had found the young woman to be she did not want to be alone with her without her brother. He himself had bid her to keep her distance from the so called witch not long ago and now he seemed all the more determined to offer her up himself just like that.

"We are still alive." He whispers back removing a piece of string from around his neck then doing the same to her. Both had a small piece of parchment tied at the end which he then swapped between them. There were worse things in life than walking side by side with a witch. And he was more than certain that that was what was following them and had been following them since before entering the village. But informing her of such a notion was out of the question. At the same time he completely avoids her question of the correct answer.

"Remember what I said, both are important. And be safe."

Hiding his piece once again beneath the hem of his tunic he stands back up glancing at the witch from the corner of his eye for a moment before returning his gaze back to his sibling. "Be safe and stay on the path, alright." He pats her head gently, yet before another word can be spoken Seras's light chuckle distracts them.

"Why consider me better?" she'd listened to his thoughts and that one notion, of her being better, somehow seemed _amusing_. It was strange but it almost felt as it something her _master_ might say. Her gaze was fixed on the little girl's back, the crimson of her left iris peering ever so slightly from behind a loose golden strand that fell down her face.

/Of all things, do you not agree?/ her voice tauntingly whispers inside the child's mind knowing full well her victim would be aware of their private conversation. She had no clear idea who exactly these children were, yet they proved most _interesting_.

"I don't." Paul replies reaching with his right hand into his pocket and producing a small metal cross tied to a simple piece of string. He then takes hold of Nana's left hand turning her palm upward and placing the cross within. "I just trust her." His hand closes over his sister's squeezing it as if saying:

_Be safe…_

_I will…_

The horse grunted stomping the soil repeatedly a few time with his front left hoof as Paul mounted him, yet any protesting he might have still had as well as objections towards the boy mounting him were laid to rest by that same slender and pale hand running down his forehead ever so slowly time and time again. The draculina stood to his left once more, the tips of her boots just a few inches from being crushed by the large hoof and its pawing motion. His leg was held in a seemingly stiff position with a pause in its beat each time he was about to stomp the ground once again. The grunt soon became a low and constant neigh and his foot eventually stopped hovering just an inch off the ground before finally moving down and touching the grassy ground for the last time.

The deep black sea within his large eyes reflected the face of the draculina, yet for a mere second alone, the dot that was her reflected eyes grew until the very middle of that sea was like a drop of freshly drawn blood dripping from the tip of sharp needle and falling on a pitch black surface. The twin crimson gazes met for the briefest of moments before the drop of blood vanished completely. Paul pulled at the reins turning the stallion's head around and urged him forward with a light kick to the side. He took a different path and galloped out of sight shortly after. The childe was left standing alone with the small cross hanging around her throat.

Seras stood a little over a foot behind her letting her senses envelope the forest behind her. It was brimming with life as well as death. And somewhere, far away where from where they now stood, she could feel something calling out to her and drawing her in.

"Come little one." She whispers turning around and heading towards the opening of the forest. And although hesitant, she's not long after followed by the small raven haired girl. The upcoming storm was getting closer and closer to the breaking point. Thunder roared more violently and the sky appeared darker than before due to the many wild branches reaching up towards the heaves. Over an hour or so passed in silence.

"What's your name?" Nana eventually and silently asks barely raising her voice over the sound of a falling feather. At first she'd been content at walking behind the witch, the vampire, but as time passed she grew bolder and ultimately approached her walking by her right side despite the discomfort and the limp in her left leg. Her ankle was still swollen and painful to step on, but she persisted. Unfortunately her question was still left without an answer.

"I'm Nana, but you already…know that." She lowers her voice when there is nothing but silence to greet her once again. Looking up and to the side she gazes into the side of the draculina's face taking a moment to examine the way her long hair moved around it and shoulder before focusing more of her attention on the face itself.

Seras's eyes blazed with untamed bloodlust glowing brightly against the darkness of the forest. Her golden hair was swept to the side and completely falling over her left shoulder with the exception of just a few loose strands which remained to frame the right side of her face. More seconds pass and still no answer. And when her head finally lowered in defeat she was far to distracted to watch her steps any longer and trips catching her already injured leg on a loose stick littering the forest floor. She falls with aloud squeak expecting to hit the ground hard, but when her eyes reopen she's hovering an inch off the ground.

With a gentle pull she's not only back on her feet, but moved to side as well and sat on a nearby tree trunk despite her protesting.

"Stop moving." Seras scolds her taking hold of her injured leg and placing her right hand on her ankle. The misstep sprained her ankle forcing her already injured ligaments to bend at an unnatural fashion. It immediately swelled beneath her palm and the girl whimpered in pain at the sudden touch. It would have to be set if she ever wanted to walk on it again.

"It hurts let go." Nana attempts to pull her foot back which only makes it worse due to Seras's refusal to let go.

"Stop…" her tone is demanding, but gentle as she raises the child's head with her left hand making eye contact. "I could kill you in worse ways." She says, but her lips curl in a light smile at the same time showing she has no real intention of harming her. However, even as words spoke the truth she was starving beyond comprehension.

"Why don't you?" Nana asks in return keeping her voice low.

"If you wish me too." Seras replies in a manner that is more confusing than revealing. The child shakes her head placing both her hand in her lap and entwining her fingers together in a nervous fashion.

"Then you need not fear me. There are greater monster than what you see before you now."

For the next few min, as Seras works on her injured leg, Nana remains quite with the exceptional whimper as the draculina's fingers moved over the swollen and inflamed skin. A bone was out of place and crepitating beneath her fingers. She could set it back in place, but she would still be unable to walk properly.

"Hold still." Seras tells her seconds before cutting her skin open with one claw just over the protruding bone.

"Ahh." Nana whimpers trying to pull her leg once again and push Seras's hands away from her ankle, but she's unable to do as Seras twist her ankle back into place in one swift move. Her eyes shut tight from the sudden and intense, yet reopen at the sound of her voice.

"Drink." The vampire's bloody hand was hovering right in front of her face. Her right wrist was bleeding and blood partially smeared her lips from the original bite. Nana's eyes widened in fear at the sight and her breath hitched in her throat for a moment. The amount of crimson was little, noting more than a trickle dripping from the left corner of her lips, but it was a vampire and a vampire's blood. Nosferatu….

"Take the blood." The words were both tempting as well as forbidden. She had never seen one of the 'undead' before, but the stories were many and frightening.

"No…" her voice was barely strong enough to reach the draculina's ears and despite the heavy layer of fear lining it determination still made its way through to the surface. She could not condemn her soul no mat….

"It will heal you." Seras's purrs and what had once been an honest act to help heal the child became a rather interesting game. She could feel the inner struggle of the child: take the blood and heal or take the blood and be condemned for all time; a sin against God.

_You know you want too. _

The haunting voice of her master came to life inside her mind along with the memory of him offering it to one she did not know. It was a memory form the past, but she had no idea who he was offering it too or where it had taken place. Still, she saw his grin and his deep crimson eyes shone with much amusement in her mind as he offered it. And so it came as little surprise when her lips mimicked his whispering the same temptation.

"You know you want to."

"No." She's refused once again, but that alone made it all the more exciting. "You do not wish to heal?"

The siren's song continues further poisoning the innocent mind of the young child.

"I'm Christian."

Seras can't help but smile and laugh at the notion. None the less, she allows her hand to drop. "Christian', such a humorous notion when spoken to a full blooded protestant. More so, one who'd lost the basic concept of 'faith' when she'd been years younger than the girl now sitting before her eyes. Oh yes, of all the memories she'd lost, that was one she would never forget. Everything else may be lost, but not that; Never that.

"The world is nothing like you think."

She tells her smearing some of her blood on the index and middle finger of her left hand before placing them over the bleeding cut on her ankle. The blood flow immediately stopped and the pain lost some of its intensity. It was amazing how quickly the inflammation retreated under such a small amount of blood.

"It won't?" Nana asks seemingly worried about the crimson liquid still seeping out of the bite wound marring the vampire's wrist.

"No." Seras smiles bringing her wrist to her mouth and cleaning it with one simple swipe of her tongue. "We cannot change those who are unwilling."

Breaking off a small piece of cloth from the hem of the girl's dress she then wraps it around her ankle.

"We?" she hesitantly asks fearful of not overstepping unsecure boundaries. She winces as the makeshift bandage is securely tied around her ankle.

Seras smiles mischievously revealing a hint of her fangs and nothing more. 'We' was not something the child needed to know. 'We' was private and personal. 'We' was….

_Master… _

She whispers in her mind alone as blues eyes flash behind her eyelids as she blinks. 'We' was a little boy she called 'master', a little boy whose eyes lost the light of day within and whose soul drowned in pure darkness.

Sadness overcame her eyes at the thought, yet by then she'd already turned from the girl and stood up keeping her back to her.

_"I wouldn't let you get hurt, you know that."_

_"I'm sorry. I'm sorry they hurt you."_

It was hard, letting that image leave her mind was incredibly difficult. All the pain…

Her left hand balled into a fist taking the ends of the ribbon into her palm and closing her fingers around them.

_I need you please._

Even now she could still feel the desperate grip he had had on her small body. It had felt oddly familiar in ways she could not explain. She should have asked why. She should have brought the subject up, but doing so….

The boy's eyes flashed a second time and with them the answer didn't seem as important. 'I need you please'…'I need…

"I need…" she said out loud before her mind can grasp the concept, but the words are far too silent to be perceived by the young _human_ girl. Her lips thus curl in a small smile, eyes closing for a moment.

"What's your name?" Nana repeats her very first question as she finishes tying her boot over the makeshift bandage. She's already up and standing directly behind the golden haired woman. The pain in her leg was almost gone and she could lean her weight on it without fear of hurting. Her words are more hopeful than before. Perhaps she would get her answer this time.

/I need my master./ Seras whispers and the sound of her own voice echoes beautifully inside the vast darkness and broken fragments that swirled in the back of her mind. The empty space didn't seem as hollow anymore. And the blue eyes, the blues shone with just a hint of happiness; a tiny black speak on a vast empty canvas.

"Seras…" the draculina whispers, but it's till too faint for her to hear.

"What?" the child asks not sure she understood correctly.

_Seras…Seras Victoria…_How beautiful the words were…

"Seras Victoria." Seras replies turning around to peer at the child over her left shoulder.

"Se…a..." the word was difficult for her to pronounce and she stuttered with it trying to get it right.

"Victoria will do."

"I'm sorry I…"

"We must go, come." Seras extends her left hand to the child and gesturing for her to follow with a flick of her fingers. Her name was not that important after all. At least not to this child it wasn't. And not to anyone else either.

"Why are you so nice to me?" she counters not yet ready to leave her spot. Every story she's ever heard…

"No two monsters are the same." Seras tells her easily reading her thoughts by simply gazing into her large, green eyes. They were so utterly transparent regarding the subject, so innocent. "And not all stories you hear are true."

With that the subject is closed and Seras walks away knowing the child would _eventually_ follow.

"Wait." Nana shouts after her, but the draculina does not stop. "You never answered…" she was left hanging with the words on the tip of her tongue and no answer to satisfy her. Eventually, with more than a few feet between them already and the distance growing by the second, she followed in silence her leg not bothering her any longer. That first step seemed hardest until she gathered the necessary courage to take it.

Another half hour passed until the two came upon a crossroad, the path spreading into twin branches: one continuing forward while the other deviated towards the left. They had reached a small clearing surrounded by several elevated patches of earth, giving them a sand dune like aspect, and a few saplings.

There, they should have taken the second one, but Seras simply kept walking forward without a word or a second's long pause to consider her options.

"That's not the way." Nana tells her increasing the speed of her stride to reach the draculina's side once again. Seras continued to say nothing and walked on down the path she considered to be right.

"Wait please." The girl reaches her side and even succeeds in stepping in front of her to get her attention. "We're supposed to go the other way. Brother said…"

Her right hand was just about to take of her left hand and her fingers gingerly brushed against the silken red fabric of the ribbon tied around her wrist when a bone shattering howl whipped through the forest. And with it the first of many wolves to comes appeared to their left dislodging a small piece of earth from the ledge of the dune it stood perched on. Dark grey fur lined the creature's back, head and forehead while the rest of his body had a much fairer shade. Yellowish brown eyes stared his future pray down sniffing the air before the wolf's body tensed and his head tilted back, his ears flattening as he howled. The howl came seconds before a large thunderbolt scarred the cloud filled sky and thunder followed in its path. Two more distinct howls echoed in the distance responding to the first wolf's call, yet with them more growling noises joined the choir in the form of three more wolves slowly approaching them and surrounding the earth dunes. Their fangs and claws were bared and ready and their movement slow and calculated as one remained down, its color a sandy gold, and the other two, light grey, peered down at them from the edge of one of the dunes just like the first wolf.

Nana stood frozen in fear. Everywhere she turned a wolf was standing by blocking their path and baring its canines while emanating a low pitched growl. She backed away slowly until her right upper arm bumped into Seras's left side and her surprised gasp reached the draculina's ears.

"You fear them." Seras chuckles feeling the girl mold herself against her side as if seeking shelter and protection.

"I've seen people ki..."

"You think them worse than me?" her chuckle is even more intense, the notion both amusing as well as insulting. How like her bother. "You shouldn't." her gaze falls on the frightened child making her gasp at the unholy gleam in her eyes and the unnatural reddish glow they shone with. At the same time her tone turns dark, very dark indeed.

"I…" the child was just about to withdraw her hand away from hers when Seras grabbed it and pulled her forward until she stood in front of her. Her hold was neither firm nor gentle, just enough to guide her.

"They do not exist, little one." Then just like that the unexplained malice in her tone quieted down. She was calm and undisturbed once again, _caring_.

The draculina's hand slowly pushed against her back urging the child forward until that first step was taken. The sandy colored wolf, a female and smaller than the rest, growled instantly reacting to the notion of her future prey attempting to escape. She thus moved further to the right until she was almost in front of the females.

Nana stepped back in sheer reflex with a frightened gasp passing her lips and fearful look within her emerald green irises. Her back collided with Seras's front. Fear of the wolves, of something she'd come across before in her short ten years of life, was indeed stronger than the fear of those undead and unknown.

/Do not fret so./ she whispers with just a tiny hint of amusement and an upward curl of her fully lips that goes unseen.

Patting her on the head Seras steps forward allowing her powers to flare and her shadows to morph beneath her feet. Small tendrils arise making it seem as if she is walking on fire, each step stomping out a new set of swirling black flames. The wolf growled anew snapping its jaws and body tensing, but a soon as it happened the creature immediately backed away a step with a whimper. Her tail suddenly drops as doo her ears and the clearing becomes eerily quiet for a moment. Seras no longer moved her steps no more than three, but the creatures of the forest reacted none the less.

"Come." Seras says without taking her eyes off the alpha pack female. With her hand folded in the front of her chest, fingers nervously entwined, Nana quickly steps forward reaching the draculina's side. The latter then walked on without even bothering to remove her right hand from the child's grasp as she nervously took hold of it just before too greater a distance separated them once again.

The female wolf slowly, yet reluctantly backs away; dark brown eyes watching as potential prey slips by. Danger lingered in the air, the scent of blood heavy around them and unlike any prey the pack had ever taken down in the past. The remaining wolves came up from behind and it wasn't long before nothing but a few feet separated predator and prey as both parties continued to stroll through the dark forest together.

"Why so scared?" Seras questions the girl as their way leads them down a dark path through the forest. Several trees were lined up on each side of the dirt path with their branches meeting and heavily entwined together forming an arch like structure, a thick canopy, above the ground. Howls filled the air as the pack slowly came together behind them. Minutes passed one by one and the more time passed the more wolves would emerge from the bowls of the forest, their yellowish eyes glowing in the darkness and the light of the lightning bolts ripping through the sky.

Seras walked on ignoring the imminent threat following them, but the child was beyond afraid and hopelessly clinging to the only support she could hold onto. Each step increased the rate of her heartbeat until it closely resembled a heavy fist strongly pounding on a thick wooden door.

_Thump…thump…thump…_

The pulsing rhythm was sinful, yet pure and simple torture on the famished vampire. Each beat was a new wave of fresh, warm blood being pumped into the child's vessels.

So sinful….

_Thump…thump…thump…._

Seras's free hand clenched in a fist, nails almost digging into her skin, as she fought back the urge to sink her fangs into her equally warm flesh and just drain her dry, feed of her life-force until there was nothing left. It was calling…drink…_drink_…**drink**_…_

_Drink and you'll understand. I promise._

_Yes master._

Her eyes shut close and her nail pricked her skin as she forced the right hand to remain motionless and not crush the little girl's hand. A single droplet of her blood hit the forest floor causing uproar amongst the creatures inhabiting it. They had kept their distance at first, but all that changed with that one crimson droplet. The scent drove them over the edge and into a frenzy as their howls and growls filled the forest and the circle go smaller.

**_Take the blood!_**

Blood stained the forest floor. And one child's scream would forever give new meaning to the word 'haunted'.

The wolves attacked driven the overwhelming scent of blood and Seras retaliated striking the first into the chest of the one wolf who foolishly got to close to soon and ripping its heart out in one single move. The body fell lifeless, the dark grey fur on the wolf's belly stained in red as blood seeped out off its torn chest. A trail of blood colored the air as the draculina moved with the grace and elegance of a gymnast's. No shadows were summoned, yet one by one the creatures fell under her hands. Two more were relieved of their hearts while a third soon found himself without a head.

The severed wolf's head dropped from between Seras's fingers rolling twice before it stopping close to the child's body who whimpered in fear; a fear which strongly emanated from her entire body. Moving quickly the draculina then grabbed hold of the child's clothing raising her back on her feet her up and pressing her back hard against the rough bark of the closest, old oak three she could find. Two small hands pushed against her wrist and two terrified misty green orbs stared back. A small grey object rested in her right hand as it pressed into the draculina's flesh: the little silver crucifix.

Not for a second though did the harmful metal bring harm to her skin. The silver left her completely unscathed. The horror increased as Seras leaned in closer and the child gasped in fear, shut her eyed and turned her head away from the red blazing eyes of the demon in front of her. The prospect of her fangs, tips in plain sight clearly passing her upper lip and coming closer…

"Run." Said the vampire in a cold, distant voice with fangs just inches from the girls' throat and pulse point.

Once more the child whimpered as her mouth moved closer. The madness in her orbs retreated for a moment till they became normal in their ruby red color. They focused not on her face, but the small cross pressed into her skin that the child held up so desperately. Seras's demand could not be disobeyed; the darkness in her tone proof enough, but fear was so much stronger and keeps her in place. Three new wolves circled them approaching Seras from behind.

/I said run!/ she shouts in the child's mind pushing through the heavy layer of fear clouding her judgment.

"Run…"she whispers anew and this time she is not disobeyed as Nana finally opens her eyes and looks her in the face. "Go."

Nana nods waiting for Seras to remove her hands from around her front and once she does she lingers no more than a second or two more before taking of in the direction of the path. And as she ran wolves charged forward ready to sink their fangs in the vulnerable little girl.

Seras charged forward with a devilish smirk plastered all over her face. The fight would prove a fun distraction and perhaps quench the raw bloodlust driving her insane.

.

Several horses wined and nickered in distress as howls filled the forest. Several men were gathered around a large black stallion and the boy tied up on his back with a noose around his throat and his hands tied behind his back. Had someone not held the stallion's reins he might have jerked forward snapping the kid's neck. The soil beneath his hooves was moist and muddy dirtying the lower portion of his cannon on both front legs as well as causing the long hairs covering his lower legs, the feathers, to cling to them in because of the mud. The lower part of his wavy tail fared no better and each time he moved it mud smeared his sides. A good part of his mane was completely dirty and gathered beneath the new piece of rope tied around his throat while the longest strands at the base of his throat, which had normally reached his elbow and forearm, were now tucked away beneath the teen's right foot. As for the boy himself, he'd been first of beaten up good and the strung up. His face was mostly bloody, both his nose and mouth bleeding from many blows received.

"This paper's useless." The red head says crushing the piece of paper in his right hand after reading it. His emerald green eyes narrowed in anger. How he detested being manipulated.

/Damn him!/ he curses struggling to keep his temper under control. For tow days now he'd been after these retched brats with no luck in finding the compromising piece of paper their father had written about him. If anyone found it before him his head would undoubtedly find place on a long thin pole suspended off the ground. It wasn't as if he could easily part form his master anew and coming here now had inconvenienced him greatly. And the boy, the boy had **nothing**.

Clenching his fist even harder he squeezed the piece of paper before throwing to the ground and pulling on the reins of his horse. The vast majority of his father's men had stayed behind at the camp site beyond the forest while his smaller group had left in order to search the forest and secure the newly placed campsite. The few men the Warlord had with him were loyal, but easily outnumbered by his own forces. The interval for striking was thin, very thin, but he'd have no other opportunity as good as this in the future.

/Old fool./ the thought crosses his mind as his hardened gaze falls on the dark brown haired teen. Too loyal to be persuaded to rise against their lord; his father had attempted to reveal the assassination plot against him which inevitably caused his early death as well as that of the rest of his family. All that was the left was the brat and his smaller sister who he'd lost two days prior. And their damned father had given them proof of his own father's treachery before he'd gotten there, a course of action easily removed from his under torture before death actually took him.

And so, for two days now, the red headed man thought his life hanging by the whims of two insignificant children the world would not bother to remember.

"Alone is she?" he asks the boy smirking fixing him with his green eyes. More howls filled the air and shortly after, came the all too familiar scream of a little girl.

"No!" Paul shouts while the man chuckles and the horses neigh frighten by the intensity of the ghostly sounds reverberating through the dark forest.

"Perhaps not." His chuckle only darkens taking on a low pitch. He turns his head around ordering one of the men to stay behind and finish the job before urging his horse to turn as well and ride off with four more riders following behind. Five foot soldiers are left behind and three riders as well. None of them even knew how close they actually had come to discovering the other sibling. If only they too had taken the other path at the small crossroad.

"Traitor!" the teen's screams were rendered useless by the ever increasing distance between himself and noble. No amount of cursing the man could either make it batter or save him from getting hanged. Worst of all…

A second scream; he could already see the mangled corpse of his sister in the back of his mind.

The remaining three horses, two dark brown and the third somewhat reddish in color, were utterly restless, yet the black stallion stayed eerily calm once his senses became familiar with the child's voice and he recognized it from before. His ears moved from side to side taking in the wild, nervous sounds of the other horses as well as those of the remaining men. The scent of blood had reached them just as it had the wolves several miles away. It was overpowering despite the distance between the two separate events and the impossibility of that one small drop of blood having such a devastating effect. Much more blood would be spilled that upcoming storm as death slowly but surely draws in its unseen mercenaries.

"To you maybe, but not myself." The man replies almost about to leave the clearing. One of the remaining riders leaves his post as he and his two companions approach the small group of 4 gathered around the tree. Just then he was jumped from behind by a large black wolf, blood all over his muzzle, and a scar over his left eye. The force of the impact causes the man to fall from the back of his horse and the latter to panic and rise on his hind legs and whine out loud in a high pitched screech. One came first before the entire pack descended on the small group of men.

"Leave them, leave them!" the red head shouts forcing his horse to obey and gallop forward taking his four men with him. They rode on ignoring the screams, ignoring the growls.

"Stop…stop…"Paul whispers attempting to keep his voice as calm as possible as the horse beneath him could stay put no longer when three wolves began circling him while the rest of pack partially fed of their newly acquired meal. Though the one of the two riders had managed to escape the other met a similar fate to the first and the foot soldiers. It was all over within the span of a few agonizing minutes; there was no stopping them.

The stallion kept pounding the ground with his front legs one at a time groaning and roaring at the approaching wolves, nickering and pacing constantly as his eyes could not turn to look in one particular direction without spotting a pair of sharp fangs pointed at him.

The noose of the rope was tightening around Paul's throat the more the stallion tugged at it pacing from side to side. His legs and knees fought to press against the stallion's sides and thus keep himself up while his hands struggled with the binds trying to untie the knot around his wrists. His heart was racing like mad inside his chest, adrenalin coursing through his veins and sweat trickling down his temples. The same scared wolf that'd attacked the rider stood directly in front of the horse while the other three backed up once their leader gave the signal.

"Shit." The teen curses, his voice almost breathless from the stress inflicted upon him, as his hands fail once again and his fingers were unable to move around the knot and loosen it. The horse bellows ready to stand on his hind legs once he could backup no further. He was performing the act halfway, quickly raising his front leg to his chest as if preparing to jump forward then stomping the ground with them the very next second.

"Stop. Stop!"

Paul shouts but it's already too late. One of the wolves lunges forward breaking rank and the stallion retaliates without remorse or pause for judgment. It is instinctual even if the teen's life hung in the balance.

His body slides from underneath the large frame of the horse as the ladder not only stands up, but jerks forward just as the wolf had done. One of the wolf's looses all patience and opens his mouth reaching for the horse's throat, yet the latter had already bent his head slamming the left side of his face into the wolf's throat and crushing his left front paw with his hooves. The wolf yelps in pain as the bones were shattered under the massive weight of the stallion body and legs before he's hurled to the side by the stallion bashing his head into him a second time. It was through nothing but sheer luck that his teeth barely managed to graze the horse's left shoulder and draw the bare minimum amount of blood.

The noose tightened until there was no more space between it and the teen's throat. He fell, his feet dangling of the ground and the air cut out of his lungs. Having slipped off the horse first saved his neck from snapping in two when the creature violently jerked forward confronting the wolf. None the less, he was choking unable to do anything other than squirm where he stood and feel the last grain of life being sucked right out of him. His skin turned blue, his lips especially, as air no longer filled his chest and his world was turning darker and darker. Event his legs stopped moving and the noise around him held no meaning to his deaf ears.

One single broken sigh passed his bluish lips the darkness…

His legs hit the ground, but he could not feel it. His back fell against the hard and rough surface of the tree's trunk leaning against it for support, but it left him utterly cold. All that mattered, all that seemed relevantly important was the rapid flow of moist and cold air filling his lungs to the brink time and time again. Thunder and lightning raged above as if threatening to break the heavens apart. The clouds were on the verge of tearing and releasing their contents upon the earth.

An arrow had cut straight through the rope severing it from the branch and allowing the teen to fall. The latter coughed time and time again until his lugs reacquainted themselves with the taste and feel of pure fresh air now freely coursing through them once more as if noting had happened; as if death and not firmly held him by the neck just seconds before.

A rain of arrows then descended on the small battle field…

Paul lost consciousness, his gaze locked on the form of the retreating form of the scared, black wolf before all went dark.

.

The forest was eerily silent as a small group of armed and armor clad individuals stood gathered at the edge of a small creek whilst their horses partook in much needed water. They were five in total, three having remained by the side of the creek with the horses where as two were nowhere to be seen. Then, a few moments later, a man came forth heading towards his companions. A hood covered his short raven hair, though a strand had fallen over the middle of his forehead revealing a hint of silver streaks within in. His eyes were cast down hiding them from sight as he emerged from between the trees.

"Settle your affairs quickly; we leave in a short while." He tells his men while walking up to his horse, a chestnut stallion with a small white snip on his face. His head turned to the left once he reached the river bend allowing him to peer over his shoulder in the direction from where he came before. He stayed in that position for a moment only before focusing his attention back to his own task and getting his horse ready. It wasn't but a few minutes later that the entire situation would take a turn for the worst.

"My Lord." A voice called out to the short raven haired man as the sixth missing member of their party finally returned from his scouting mission and stopped his horse on the other side of the small creek. Howls echoed in the distance and had been doing so for several minutes now. With all of their preparations done all the riders we ready to saddle up and return to their master's side.

"I've found them milord, a few miles down from here." He pauses for a moment before revealing the second bit of information. "They have Paul. He won't last long."

"And the girl?"

"I'm sorry, no. She was not there milord."

The man's hands clenched to fists around the leather reins of his horse pondering the problem most carefully. The situation was a most delicate one.

/We must keep our enemies as close as possible my friend. Should the opportunity ever arise do not hesitate to take it./

Those had been the parting words before he'd been sent away by their lord leaving him alone to wander the forest as many times over in the past. /A grave is best dug by oneself rather than by others. Let them come./

"You will come with me." He tells the younger man whilst getting on his horse. Afterwards he turns his attention to the remaining soldiers around him. "You two find our master, but keep your distance. He doe not wish to be disturbed. And you follow me as well."

Parting them as well, one more rider went with him as told crossing the creek and disappearing into the forest while two headed down the opposite path.

.

Meanwhile, a good distance away, the last member of the small party wandered in silence amongst the old trees.

He wore dark grey armor partially hidden by the sky blue cape with a dark crimson lining he wore over his shoulders that matched that of the scarf wrapped around his muscular throat. The armor itself consisted of several segments forged out of sturdy metal plates in various shapes and sizes. What stood out most, due to the way the two edges of the cape parted ass he walked into the light, were the parts covering his long legs and solid body. The breast plate, a brigandine jacket, was constructed out of aligned oblong metal plates sewn into the rich fabric of the jacket itself. The latter was lined all the way through with overlapping scales of metal attached to the jacket by rivets which had their heads, like studs, visible on the outside and connected to those on the opposite side by leather straps. The end result was an articulated piece of armor that provided both flexibility and protection at the same time. The breastplate then continued downward, along his waist lean hips, with a new piece of plate armor, faulds, which took the shape of metal bands surrounding both legs, halfway down his thighs, as well the entire circumference of his hips. It was a piece that stood in contrast to the rest of the ensemble due its much lighter color, a bluish grey instead of dark grey. The two separate pieces were connected at the waist by a black gousset, a piece of mail meant to protect the areas not usually covered by plate. A little under it lay two more, in almost diagonal position, leather straps as though pulled down on the left side by something heavy.

His legs, on the other hand, were equally protected. Cuisses, enclosing the front of his thighs, shielded them from potentially harmful while the reinforced, mail underneath gave it the necessary support it required. The lower half of his legs wore thick dark brown leather; knee high leather boots with schynbalds sewn onto them in order to cover the front and outside parts of the shins. They were forged out a single, yet sturdy piece of steel which had a somewhat thicker upper part than the rest its body, as to secure the knee from lethal injuries, and ended just above the foot. The latter had round tipped sabaton over it for added protection. A sword was strapped to the left side of his body, the hilt golden in color, hanging from its sheath over his hip. The latter was fastened by two leather belts circling his hips in a sideways position while a third belt was wrapped directly around his middle.

All the component pieces rattled as he moved despite his steps themselves being unusually quite. In all, it was the sole sound of his presence as he took one step after another and his dark blue eyes scanned the barely lit forest laid out in its entire splendor before him.

The hood of the cape was down and covered by his long raven hair. The long, wavy locks fell down his shoulders and back more evenly and more gracefully than the cape itself and reached a little passed the line of his hips. His skin seemed somewhat pale when compared to the dark colors all around him, both his attire as well as the forest around him. A dark yet short moustache adorned his upper lip while a light beard, no more than a day or two old, covered the lower half of his face.

For a while now he'd been walking in silence with nothing but he sounds of the forest to accompany him. After so many ears they were all too familiar to him and he could easily tell the history of the places he would visit by simply _listening _and _observing_ his surroundings. The forest was restless and not just because of the oncoming storm. There was something else in the air something he could not yet describe. His upward path had led him along a small gathering of rocks until he reached the edge. The descending slow was not only high off the ground, but also very steep despite it being somewhat oblique in direction and not perfectly straight and perpendicular to the ground.

A doe screeched in the valley bellow as it was brought down by an arrow. Adjusting his position to be able to better peer over the edge he circled the large tree planted there placing his right hand against its thick body. Three riders appeared soon after circling the poor beast and shooting a second arrow into the same hind leg crippling it. The doe was still alive, but the hunt was much better by tormenting it before death than just killing it on the spot. He knew all three well enough to know their 'master' was not far behind. The warlord's lips curl in subtle smile beneath his scarf and his eyes shone with a mischievous glint within them. So here is where he will make himself shown. Very well then…

The sound of thin branches breaking caught his attention and his head immediately turned to the left, but there was nothing there to alert him.

"I do not see him my lord." The soldier waiting on his horse next to the green eyed nobleman spoke in hushed tones. Both of them were well hidden with a good view of the small hill and the surrounding area, yet there was nothing to be seen in the distance in either direction.

"We wait. Prepare your arrow." Came the reply though the man was not pleased at all. One could not just vanish in thin air when signs of his footsteps still littered the ground. Strange, but not quite as unexpected as one might think. It would not be an easy game. Time was running out and even more so when multiple pairs of yellowish brown eyes followed their every move.

"Watch this." One of the men below boasted preparing an arrow of his own. The other two had had their shot, but his would be the winner. The injured doe, its legs tricking blood, settled on the ground as if resigned to its fate. She sniffed the air with her moist black nose while her ears moved from side to side much her ears did. He drew his hand back, the arrow sliding with great precision against the wooden body of the bow as his fingers clenched its end, and fixed the doe with his dark eyes aiming the sharp metal tip to its left shoulder. A few cm in the right direction and the doe's heart would be his.

The man to his left screamed throwing his aim off. The arrow struck the ground at the base of the slope behind and to the left of the doe. The body of the man fell to the ground missing half of his right arm; the latter lay just a short distance away frightening the dune colored horse he rode and causing him to buck and throw the man off. The scream caught everyone's attention, but it was only short lived when a blur of black appeared out of nowhere on top of the fallen man snapping his neck. The blur wasted no time before attacking the second man and finally the archer himself. The bow fell from his hands just as his body fell form the horse beneath the heavy body of his killer. All the three horses scattered running away in fear as the blood of their rider began to seep in their clothes beneath the armor they wore. The first drop of rain toughed the doe's head and with it a massive thunderbolt scorched the sky bringing thunder in its wake. The creature was on top of the man, its' right front paw pressing against his throat cutting his skin open and the left piercing the plates of his armor covering his shoulder. In seconds it jerked its head back in a log, low pitched howl that sung as one with the thunder from above. Pitch black fur shone in the light of the thunderbolt as it flashed from above illuminating the massive frame of a large wolf.

"There! Shoot now!" the green eyed man shouts finally noticing the man hidden behind the large three near the very edge of the hill he'd overlooked before.

The warlord had leaned forward unable to tear his gaze from the sudden and accurate attack. The victim was not yet dead, but the other two had one broken neck and a missing arm and one severed a throat, ripped open by the jaws of the creature whose muzzle dripped with fresh, warm blood.

The archer struggled to get his arrow into position, crippled with fear from the bone chilling sound of those screams as well as the horrific sounding howl.

"Shoot!"

The scream had the Vlad turned his head around and see the two men in the distance. He would have taken the shot had it not been for his horse bucking in fear when a second bolt of lightning struck one of the taller trees breaking off one of its large branches and setting it ablaze. The opportunity was lost.

" You bloody fool!" the noble man shouts in ager securing his horse before smacking the man over the left cheek with such strength the latter falls from his agitated horse. He would not see his one opportunity lost because of a damned fool who could not do as told and take one damn shot that would have easily hit its target.

Without a moment to loose he quickly takes out his sword urging his horse to run forward and up the hill, but he barely makes it 3/4 of the way. The tree is within reach but then his horse is attacked by the same black manifestation that had killed two men already. The body of the wolf crashed into the side of the horse as the former suddenly appears jumping over the edge of the hill as if it were nothing at all. Its jaws sink in deep into the horse's right shoulder and all three roll back down the slightly steep part of the hill. The wolf however let's go not a moment after drawing first blood and thus stops descending with the help on long, curled, black claws that rake the soil whilst both the horse and rider continue to fall. The fall had spared the man's right leg from breaking by sheer luck alone as the horse never fully turned on his back once pushed to the ground. He was thus able to break free of the saddle and not risk further injury. The horse on the other hand broke its left hind legs and laid nickering and bleeding from the inflicted wound at the base of the hill. It was then that the red had noticed the form, shape and size of the wolf for the very first time. It was only a seconds worth, but the image would not fail to haunt him in the long run. He was a 1/4 of the distance up the small hill, sitting in a kneeled position on all fours after succeeding in stopping his descent, and paralyzed on the spot by the sheer murderous look in the black creature's blood red eyes. The size of the wolf alone was enormous, far more than any he'd ever seen with a body much more slick and elegant in form than a simple bushy coat. Not once, however, did he notice the red piece of fabric tied around its front left foot nor the sharp black claws sinking into the fragile soil and broken leaves.

The wolf opened its jaws wide growling from the pit of its lungs straight into his face and spraying it with blood. And when it was over the wolf lowered its head in a rapid move and lunged forward hitting the man directly in the chest and sending him flying backwards. It is the last thing he sees before hitting the ground hard sever good feet away.

As for the rider accompanying the red head his arrow, the one that should have hit the warlord, finally found a target, though not the one intended. The shot was poor and the aim completely off and the tip hit noting but solid earth landing close to the wolf's position. The man had unsaddled his horse in a failed attempt at a better shot since his hands were shaking too great to take proper aim. However, it did put some space between the wolf and the red headed man as the former did not follow the latter after pushing him away. Instead its' ears perked up at the distant sound of heavy footsteps hitting the ground time and time again; horses could be heard in the distance.

The wolf turned and ran with another flash of lighting and the drums of thunder to mask his disappearance. The light illuminated the partially visible sky the wolf was still in sight, yet when it vanished it took the creature with it. The group of horses led by the noble with short raven hair and colored eyes, and who was currently sharing his horse with the teen he'd help rescue from certain death. He was closing in, hoping against all he was not too late.

_Flashback_

_The arrow struck seconds before the teen's eyes rolled in the back of his head and death's embrace became permanent. Wolves had encircled him and the black stallion as the latter fought against a black creature currently perched on his back the boy was hanging from the high branch and his feet were slowly starting to stop moving. Unfortunately, there was no sigh whatsoever of the man the noble lord had been hoping to hind._

_"Finish it quickly." The man tells the two archers as he and the scout rode on swords at the ready. Arrows soon rained and by the end more bodies littered the forest floor, their blood seeping into the grassy soil. All the wolves were either down or had retreated not long after, but the large black one with the scar marring his face was far from giving up on his chosen pray. His claws dug deep into the stallion's sides and shoulder blades as he held on while the horse savagely bucked attempting to throw him off his back. _

_Having crushed the first wolf's leg beneath his hooves left the stallion's back and right side were left utterly exposed as his body had bent forward in the momentum of his powerful blow. For the moment the man hanging from the three's branch was too much trouble and out of their reach while the horse was already bleeding and a far more accessible pray. _

_Luck once again saved the boy from a crippling blow as the cutting of the rope made him fall not seconds before the stallion's hind legs hit right where his thighs had been while suspended of the ground. He bucked and bucked neighing and snorting like mad while trying to get rid of the pest on his back whose claws kept scratching his beautiful midnight black coat drawing blood. Enraged he crashed his left side in the closet tree he could find finally succeeding in removing the wolf from his back. He then took off closely followed by the recovering wolf and two more members of the pack who had kept their distance till then from both the horse as well as the oncoming riders._

_"Paul." The raven haired man shakes the teen up removing the noose form around his throat. Slowly his eyelids reopen and his vision clarifies to the sight of dark brown eyes staring down at him. _

_"Uncle?" he whispers hoarsely, his voice weak and throat throbbing in pain. A thick red line circled his throat from front to back and would leave a deep and lasting bruise. "Ga…briel…" _

_"It will be alright." He tells him gripping his shoulder for support. It would be alright, at least until they found the mangled corpse of his niece. If ever since they too had heard her scream._

_"Gabriel…" the teen whispers a second time with more confidence catching his breath and bringing his right hand up to the front of his throat and massaging it._

_"I know." His uncle replies._

_Flashback end_

Even as they approached the clearing there was still no sign of the two men he'd assigned earlier to return to their master's side. They were nowhere to be seen along the path leading towards the base of the mountain. For a split second the though of them two betraying him crossed his mind, but he would have time to ponder the situation later.

Meanwhile, the read headed man got up distancing himself further from the hill as he struggled with his limp. The fall had bruised his ankle and the subsequent tumble had sprayed it.

"My lord." The archer calls running towards him, bow down, in an attempt to help him.

"Silence!" The later grunts in ager thrusting a hidden knife into the latter's throat. He had no use for weaklings and cowards. Leaving him to die he quickly headed towards his horse and made a run for it before he could be at risk at getting caught.

The plan had failed miserably and the chance of him not being seen very slim. Only a miracle would save his face from being recognized by the warlord now; if he ever got out of the forest alive that is. He ran loosing himself in the darkness of the thick canopy forest and the many trees with only a few minutes to spare.

Reaching the base of the hill the men found nothing but the fallen horse with its broken leg.

/Damn it!/ the raven haired man curses easily recognizing the horse by the small emblem etched into the leather saddle.

"There is no one here my lord." One of the soldiers speaks up as the small group had momentarily split up once reaching their destination.

"Uncle…" Paul calls concern lingering in his voice.

"Spread out. Quickly!" the man then shouts turning his attention to the three men accompanying him. "They could not have gone far." All sorts of scenarios flashed through his mind in the short span of the few seconds passing between his words and those of the second soldier to speak. After climbing the hill on horseback he'd dismantled and peered over the edge of the steep slope seeing what appeared to be bodies lying on the forest floor though it proved difficult doing so without taking the same position near the edge as the warlord had. And among them was only one black armor.

"There are bodies at the bottom of the ravine." He shouts alerting everyone.

"Move!" the noble shouts urging his horse forward. There was no way to descend down that slope without suffering further injuries they could not afford; they would have to go around.

It was a strange sensation, the way those crimson orbs so like a cup of freshly spilled blood looked up at him from the bottom of the ravine. It didn't last long, and yet it seemed as if recognition passed between them before the entire form of the large black wolf disappeared in the blink of an eye only to suddenly reappear right in front of him and tackle the oncoming horse as if it were nothing. Blood marred the perfect charcoal die of her fur until the first drops of rain touched it. Lightning and thunder clashed together and before he knew it the creature was crashing into his side just as it had the horse's and they were both rolling together down the steep hill. The body of the wolf was hard and its fur soft to the touch, yet all that bore little importance when the hard ground made contact with his body several times crashing the hard metal of his armor against him. Each roll scattered the leaves littering the slope as well as thin, black mist like fine dust form the body of the wolf. The final roll was the hardest and the landing was nothing like he'd expected. His left side hit the ground the hardest because instead of the large wolf's body to take most of the damage there was nothing but the petite frame of a body so much smaller than his and a curtain of long melted gold all round them. The color mixed with the deep charcoal of his own strands, leaves and broken strands of grass. Two dead bodies littered the ground close by while the third was nowhere to be seen. Only the doe had remained in the vicinity, twin arrows in her left front leg, her body still down and her eyes and ears ever watchful. Silence finally fell over the thick canopy forest with only the sound of the fallen raindrops echoing all around as they touched both the soil as well as the metal plates of his armor. And in the distance the howling never ceased to stop though it no longer sounded as threatening and intense as before. They were now just simple howling wolves and not crazed, mad driven creatures by the strong, heavy and rich scent of a vampire's blood.

The warlord presses against the ground with his left elbow pushing himself up slowly and lifting his body from atop of the small female he had fallen on. The sudden changed had left the draculina clothed, yet nothing stood straight on her any longer and her coat, vest and boots were missing leaving her barefoot against the moist grass. Her blouse still had the first buttons undone which only brought her cleavage out more from lying down, but it was also riding up a quarter of the ay over her left hip. The same crimson eyes, though no longer filled with such madness and anger, stared back into his own blue orbs once his head hovered but mere cm over her. The falling rainwater made his hair cling to the sides of his face in no time and several droplets dripped down his chin landing on her throat just a little above her Adam's apple. His lips curled ever so slowly into the sketch of a growing smirk as he studied the large beautiful eyes fighting to keep their sanity just a little longer and hold his gaze. It would have worked had the cracking of a branch not ruined the moment causing Seras's head to snap backwards. Her throat arched all the way backwards until her forehead nearly touched the ground and her pupils shrank loosing themselves in the vast crimson sea all around them. Despite the distance, despite the heavily falling cold shower and the lack of light to illuminate the forest, her eyes locked on the missing man's form. He was still running after narrowly escaping the wolf's clutches, her clutches to be exact, but had tripped in his haste over a partially exposed log and had fallen. And now that her attention was once again diverted to him, to the pounding sound of his heart beat, wild and fearful and humming inside her sensitive ears so beautifully, and the scent of his blood. Truth be told, there was another scent just as powerful and appealing and barely a few inches from her own chest, but the first, the first reeked with such delicious fear it called to her in the most sinful of ways almost bordering on the insane.

Seras's breathing changed as she took in a very deep breath pushing her chest upward into the metal of the warlord's breastplate and blinking once focusing her sight even more on the cracks in the man's armor and the blood seeping into his shirt from beneath and staining it along his right biceps. With his back to her as he ran once again she couldn't rally focus on the cuts marring the front of his throat.

By now there were other sound coming from above the hill, voices lost to the song and rhythm of the pouring rain, but that still warm trickle of blood oozing out of the perfectly inflicted claw marks would taste _so_ _good_…

The rest was cold blood, cold and diluted from the rain and though it still vaguely marred her lips it wasn't what she wanted, _desired_. Fear would taste so good, it would feel **so good**.

_"Seras…" _the man on top of her purrs in a deep and hoarse tone that has the sound of her own name sound devilishly beautiful and sinful. Warmth caresses her lips as the word is spoken fighting off the ice cold sensation of both the raindrops as well as the cold of the storm. The weight on the lower half of her body does not change, but the once on her chest did causing the metal to dig deeper and press harder into her ribcage and soft, ample breasts.

The sound of her own name is so good it breaks the near unbreakable hold the sweet, fear reeking blood had on her senses. Her head lowers back into place unwillingly brushing her lips against those of the blue eyed man and the somewhat rougher moustache adoring his upper lip. Her dilated pupils return to their normal size acknowledging his presence and shoving the though of the delicious blood in the back of her mind for the moment. Perhaps later she could…

"Now…" he purrs voicing out a forbidden temptation with such ease and grace its as if giving her his permission when she never even knew she needed it while deeply gazing into her crimson eyes at the same time. Her lips are partially parted and her fangs peering out, yet he makes no move or says anything towards them.

"_Now?_" she repeats after him in such a low tone the faintest of whispers would have been like a powerful scream. The blue eyes of the man shift as the look within them turn mischievous, _playful_.

"Run."

The depth of his baritone pushes her on at a deep and instinctual level and she's gone in the blink of an eye, a trail of silken black mist in her wake.

The black armor clad man stands up and few moments pass before the tell tale sound of approaching horses reached his ears as their hooves pound against the soil.

"My Lord!"

The man in turn acknowledges their presence, but keeps his gaze focused on the forest in front of him for a second or two longer before glancing down at his left hand and the object held within: a red ribbon with the crest of the dragon embroidered on it he'd found upon rising.

"Run my draculina, run." He whispers hoarsely keeping his voice very low as not be heard by the others while at the same time being unable to hide the grin form appearing on his lips. The riders come to a standstill little than half a foot away not long after.

His hand tightens its hold on the crimson piece of silk he'd recovered from the patch of soil they had fallen on together.

_I will find you._

After all he had to give her the crimson ribbon back.

.

.

To be continued…..


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 13**

_Run…_

The words of the vampire, the cold distant voice and the utterly frightening look in her bloodshed eyes pushed the poor child forward despite the cold, despite the poring rain, the deafening thunder, blinding lightning and ice cold rain; despite the things that may still be following her. Her breath was erratic and completely uneven, the muscles in her legs sore and tired from the constant effort of running at high speed through the many twists and turns of the forest floor and the many trees she had had to dodge so far.

_Run!_

And she did. Faster and faster with the sound of hungry and ravenous wolves hot on her trail. She had heard them attack; she has seen their jaws open wide in preparation fro the bite yet to come and had even come close to feeling the large weight of their bodies brush against hers in that one decisive moment before the woman she'd know to a be a witch, **Nosferatu**, became one of them.

She'd seen the _wolf_ defend _her_ and heard her say it again…

_Run!_

She didn't know for how long or how far she ran. The forest seemed endless and the thick canopy of branches and leafs hid the clouded sky from sight for most of the part. The straight path went up then down, sideways; so many trees…

One step followed the other, the sound of her footsteps heavy in her ears, until she could run no further and fell tripping over her own two feet.

The child landed hard with loud thump as she hit the leaf covered ground scraping both her knees and elbows in the process. The forest went quiet, utterly still and quiet with nothing but the pounding sound of her heart raging on and on inside her chest and ears in an almost perfect rhythm that matched that of the falling raindrops. She was alone and she was lost and her fall had brought her so deep in the forest she didn't know where she was.

Time passed and with it her hearth rate decreased and the pounding receded allowing the remaining sounds of the vast dark forest to seep through. Water flowed near by, a small creek she slowly crawled over to on hands and knees. Her reflection was disheveled and distorted: her hair messy, wet and clinging to her head and neck while filled with stray leaves and her face smeared with blood and dirt. Still trembling she began wiping her face and the scrape marks on her arms and legs.

She was almost done binding her left knee with a piece of her dress when a nicker echoed in the distance and the black stallion appeared trotting through the middle of the small creek. Deep scratches marred both his sides, but the right had suffered more damage than the left considering the wolf had leaned the majority of his weight on it in his attempt at biting the left side of the horse's throat. Three claw marks also marred the Frisian stallion's forehead running down its length up to the very tip of his muzzle and the leather strap circling it.

"Easy…" the girl calls out keeping her voice low and soft against that of the pouring rain as she reached for the dangling rains with her right hand. The stallion neighs uneasy, black eyes wide and ears pointed and alert, but eventually calms enough to let her get close. "Easy."

With little coaxing Nana manages to get the horse to move and get out of the water. The lower half of his mane is wet and sticking to his right shoulder while his tail is all bundled up in one thick mass dripping water much like the rest of his midnight black coat. Sadness and worry filled the girls' green eyes the more she lingered on the precise and deep scratches, obliviously claw marks.

"Is…is he dead?" she asks very low and the horse only nickers bringing his head down to her open palm once she gatherers the necessary courage to pet him on the forehead without disturbing the cuts and causing him pain. There is not possible way in which he would ever be able to offer her an exact answer, yet the chances of those scratches meaning nothing were even slimmer. "You can't answer, can you?"

Just then, as the stallion silently nickered cooing in a comforting fashion, the heavens cracked open with a deafening thunder and lightning and storm intensified tenfold. Thunder boomed with immense strength startling the stallion who almost jerked from her touch rather violently by raising his head and bellowing. The free reins swung in mid air before Nana reached out for them pulling his head back down with a comforting voice meant to calm him. She pulled gently without exerting unnecessary force to get him to move and leave the side of the river finding shelter beneath a tall and old oak tree with large and thick branches that prevented the many drops from touching the ground as they forced the many leafs close together.

There she sat on the ground with her back leaning against the trunk of the tree, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms tightly wrapped around her legs to preserve as much of her body heat as she could as she once again let time pass her by. There was nothing to do but wait; she was lost, utterly lost. The leather reins hung loosely in front of the stallion as he remained by the child's side, eyes and ears open and alert and neighing one in a while whenever thunder echoed all around them. The muscles in his shoulders twitched as if he were trembling when in fact it was just a reaction to both the chilly water dripping down his body as well as one of the deeper cuts inflicted by the wolf. The rest had stopped bleeding and the rain had washed away the crimson liquid marring his coat, but the former continued to seep causing a twin thin rivulets to travel down his front left leg. The stallion's head would move back from time to time to lick at the wound and graze his shoulder with his teeth; there was something stuck within the wound itself and he was unable to get it out.

The sound of the pouring rain, the thunder and lightning, and the Friesian's occasional nicker overshadowed the very light sobbing coming from the young girl whose tears could not be told apart from the rest of the water droplets dripping from her wet raven hair.

"You aren't running." Seras's voice caressed her ears like a gentle whisper, but the sound was so unexpected it made the child gasp and jump in surprise and quickly raise her head from her knees. There was noting there, the forest was just as silent with nothing but the sound of the storm all around. Hesitantly she stood up, slowly getting to her feet, and took one step forward while still remaining under the cover of the old oak tree. The stallion next to her was calm as if nothing had happened and the same words had never reached his ears.

"Se…" she stopped midway unable to say the witch's name properly as she'd initially wished."_Victoria_?" the word is barely whispered when the girl is forced to backup a step; Seras appears both suddenly and without warning right in front of her, her clothes back to normal and hair just as wet as the girl's. Her crimson eyes shone in the flash of lightning grazing the sky above her.

Flashback

_"__**Now**__?" she repeats after him in such a low tone the faintest of whispers would have been like a powerful scream. The blue eyes of the man shift as the look within them turn mischievous, __**playful**__. _

_"Run." _

_The depth of his baritone pushes her on at a deep and instinctual level and she's gone in the blink of an eye, a trail of silken black mist in her wake. Her senses reach out locating her victim with ease and without needing to follow his trail by searching the forest floor for clues. The smell of his fear and the sound of his blood madly flowing through his veins were enough of a incentive to guide her forward._

_The soldier stumbles a second time close to the trunk of an old and tall tree which he uses to brace himself against and prevent the imminent fall. His heart was racing and threatening to burst out of his chest as he took a moment to lean with his back against the rough bark and catch his breath. The horrid look of those murderous red eyes had imprinted themselves in the farthest and deepest recess of his mind haunting him and following him despite each and every step he had taken once freed from the monster's grasp. Its claws had dug in deeply into his shoulder right shoulder shredding armor, cloth and skin alike as if they were nothing. _

_"They were." Seras whispers directly into his left ear, fangs growing long at the prospect of fresh, warm blood so close within her grasp. Her tone is low and deadly. And her bite swift and effective and already consummated long before the man even had time to process the words correctly and react accordingly. Black tendrils encased his arms and legs pinning him to the tree pushing his back into the rough bark and bending the metal plates of his armor. His screams faded into nothingness as the deafening sound of the thunder from above overshadowed his every syllable until his throat was far too sore to scream any longer and his strength gone from her feeding. _

_Images of the man's life flashed inside the vampire's head with each gulp she took, thoughts and memories and order received over the course of his entire life; things he's done and some that have yet to be fulfilled. But it wasn't enough. Despite the sweet and rich taste of the fresh blood flowing down her throat her hunger was barely satisfied and ironically only made worse by the same brilliant taste of warm crimson. _

_erasS pulls back long before he's bone dry, blood dripping in large amount from her parted lips and elongated fangs, as she forces herself to let go and keep down the liquid she's already taken. The man falls to his knees once her deadly grip loosens around him and the tendrils no longer support his weight. His eyes close, heartbeat racing like mad trying to get the necessary blood flow to each and every part of his body, but they would never open again. He falls into a semi state of consciousness, yet even if he were wide awake his body would be far too tired to move a muscle._

_Close by, in the bushes a foot away, was one bright yellow orb watching the scene unfold from his sole good eye as the other was of no use. The creatures head peered from behind the bushes, just a little to sniff the air and asses the situation and in doing so the shadow covering his head was rendered useless and the long and uneven scar marring the wolf's face came forth. He limps as he moves away, but his leg is not broken. A good kick from the stallion on his second attempt at mounting him had hit his shoulder only sideways reducing the force of the impact and thus neither breaking the bone nor dislocating it. It would require time to heal, but it would heal nonetheless. And having lost his prey the need to take something else down had guided him towards a different food source. The scent of the injured doe had been found by scouts of his pack in a different part of the forest and thus the hunt went on. Bit by bit the members of the large pack rejoined their alpha slowly circling what would soon become their next meal and cutting off any potential direction for flight. _

_After removing her fangs from the man's throat Seras stumbles to the right still trying to keep her meal down, but the taste of the blood inside her mouth turned sour and vile the more time passed and within just a few seconds only she's forced to bend over and cough it all out. The quantity was no where near significant, just a few gulps nothing more, but her body trembled from the effort and her shoulders quivered as her arms fought to keep her up once the effort had subsequently forced her to move back and then drop down to her knees. Pain gripped her stomach causing her to bend forward over her knees so that her forehead touched the forest floor. Her lips were smeared in blood and parted in a silent scream showing off her bloody fangs. They retract slowly and just as painfully, but the pain does not last and she's soon able to stand. Her right hand grips her stomach while the left brushes against her mouth wiping off the remained of the crimson liquid with the back of her sleeve. It's only then that she notices the missing ribbon that should have been tied around her left wrist. Her eye linger on the spot trying to remember when and where she'd lost it, but the moments spent as a wolf impaired her. _

_**Run my draculina, run.**_

_She had heard him say while disappearing and giving chase. She remembers fractions of his ocean blue eyes as he whispers those words watching her disappear from sight, but nothing else. She can't remember whether or not sifting back into her human form had caused the ribbon to fall as he laid over her on the forest floor. The lack of information angered her, but she couldn't bring herself to care as much as she should have given the importance of that one small object. Deep down, there was this small and barely audible voice that kept on telling it would be alright regardless._

_"Yes my master." She whispers to the forest, lips curving as she tilts her head back gazing up at the heavy clouds still gathering and littering the sky. Her clothes reformed: the boots on her feet, the vest on her chest and a black cloak over her shoulders instead of the leather coat she had worn before transforming._

_The storm had just begun and would soon grow more violent. And with it her journey was just beginning. _

_Flashback end_

Standing before the child her expression is stoic and hard as if emotionless, but then something changed, a glimmer of sorts, as she reached out for the child with her right hand. And just like the very first time Nana flinches at the contact, but doesn't pull back all the way. Seras ruffles her raven hair for a moment then lets her hand slide down her face to cup her small cheek.

"Tears are useless little one."

She then pulls her hand back and heads over to the black stallion placing the same hand over his forehead and cupping the right side of his head with her left bringing his head forward to her chest. As soon as her palm moves down his black coat the cuts heal without a trace. The stallion nickers shaking his head and thus some of the water out of his long, wavy mane.

"Is…" Nana begins to ask her, but Seras immediately cuts her off with an answer to a question never asked.

"No."

The reply catches the girl by surprise, but she doesn't let up so fast. "You didn't let me finish."

"There is no need to." Sliding her right palm down the thick and muscular throat of the horse her fingers eventually reach the deep and bleeding cut where they linger for a moment as if examining it.

"He's not dead, then?" Nana immediately asks her question regardless of the enigmatic answers form before. She turns around to face the vampire and moves to her side only to jerk back in slight fear, trip herself in the process and fall backwards landing on her backside when the stallion's head jumps up and he jerks from the golden haired woman's touch with a high pitched groan.

"No." Seras eventually tells her calming the horse by gently rubbing his right cheek. A broken fragment of the wolf's claw fell from her right hand landing next to the tip of her boots. "Easy…" she whispers close to the horse's ear gently moving her fingers over the now free and healing wound. Her lips curl upward as she momentarily shifts her attention back to the raven haired child still sitting down on the damp grass.

"Still so afraid?" she chuckles watching as surprise crosses her face before quickly turning into embarrassment and eventually anger. She quickly stands up brushing the grass stains of the back of her wet dress while doing so.

"Am not." Nana says keeping her voice very low hesitantly succeeding in keeping eye contact.

"Then why stutter my name?" the grin on her face only grew and she chuckles most amused.

"Just leave me alone!" Nana shouts in frustration turning her back on the vampire. "You don't know anything." Her tone then lowers, sadness filling her words, as she remembers her brother's face and his words as they parted. Had it not been for him both of them would have died along with their father, yet even to this point she was still unable to forgive him for taking her away and leaving their dying father behind without as much as a goodbye. It was hard to forgive and even harder to let go, but now, all alone as she was, the decision was looking less and less difficult.

"I'm sorry…" she says turning around. Unfortunately there is no one there to answer back. Panic immediately grips her and she flees from the safety and cover of the tree and into the cold pouring rain. Her eyes frantically search her surroundings calling out and hoping somewhat might hear. No one answers back and the sense of fear only escalates to massive proportions when thunder booms over her head and a faint and distant howl echoes somewhere in the distance.

The child's back hits the tree as she jerks backwards from the sudden sound. A second bolt of lightning illuminates the sky and she screams, her voice all but muffled up by the powerful subsequent thunder. "Victoria!"

"Yes?" Seras asks and the girl and when the latter reopens her eyes both the vampire as well as the horse are close to the other side of the tree to her left. She stood next to the stallion, reins in hand, rain dripping down her body as she stood out in the rain with a hood attached to back of her coat and over her head. Her golden hair was parted in two, falling over each shoulder and clinging to her wet clothing and body. In her panic the girl hadn't even noticed her standing there. The tears that fell down her cheeks could not be held back and the poor child immediately moved form the spot running out in the rain towards the vampire without a second thought and embracing her for all it was worth. Her arms wrapped themselves tightly around her waist and the left side of her face pressed itself against her. Her shoulders quivered as she silently sobbed fisting the back of Seras's leather coat for all it was worth.

"Don't cry." The draculina tells her placing her left hand over the top of her head caressing her raven hair. And just like that, gone was the panic and fear, gone was being all _alone_. "I understand."

Flashback

_The closed the door behind the retreating figure of the nun, the latch clinging as she shuts it. Seras stood there unmoving even after the fabric of the grey blanket ruffled and the boy she'd concealed without proper motivation got up from his position and approached her with hushed steps. Her shoulders didn't quiver or tremble and neither did her fingers move an inch; all that was left was the crystal clear trail of water sliding down her cheeks and sparkling in the lamp's light now free of any restraint whatsoever. After he reached her side left side he touched her shoulder with his right hand. No sooner had his fingers made contact that she turned and buried her entire face into his chest and began to sob finally releasing her shoulders from the heavy burden of being strong. His arms wrapped themselves around her shaking frame offering the tiny girl the much needed support she required._

"_I understand." His words spoke volumes and his tone made her sob yet again and tighten her grip on his shirt for a moment before she let go of it completely and moved her arms under his so that her hands rejoined behind his back and held on firmly. Her palms settled a short while later over the small of his back after twisting and turning the fabric in her grasp a few times until she calmed herself down enough to just stand there in his arms, as close as possible, without moving a muscle. He didn't let go until she willingly decreased the hold she had on him and pulled her hands back towards her chest._

"_It's alright little one." _

Flashback end

"It's alright little one." She whispers the same words that had one brought her a safe feeling of comfort and genuine warmth.

"Don't go, I'm sorry. Please don't go."

Smiling again, though her smile was more reserved and light that before, Seras removed her hand from atop the girl's head and gently pushed against her right shoulder putting some distance between them. "I'm not what you need." Wiping some of her tears away would prove useless given the amount of rain soaking her clothing all over again. Thus the draculina moved her hand back over Nana's head making a small gesture and causing a black hood and cape to appear over the child covering her head and body and shielding her from the downpour.

"Give me the note." She then requests extending her hand between herself and the girl.

"Why?" Nana asks her in return removing her arms form around Seras's waist.

"It is where we must go."

"Paul said not to." Nana replies softly lowering her head.

"He will be at the monastery as well."

"You don't know that."

Without meaning to the child already confirmed the small bit of information the Seras had received from taking the soldier's blood. And although she had been unable to keep her meal down, she was able to access his mind and find out why those men had been so adamant on not only finding her master, but killing him as well.

"Blood holds the life of those it nurtures. There is no trace of blood on the horse nor was there on the men I…" _Killed_. That would have been the correct answer, but not the one she felt the child needed to know.

"Killed?"

And yet she did. It didn't matter that she was asking it as a question since the tone of her voice spoke volumes of the certainty hidden behind that very word as did her green eyes once she raised her head anew.

Seras remains silent for a moment longer before pulling away all together and whispering a silent 'come' as she turns around and starts walking in the direction of the distant monastery the dying man's thoughts had led her too. Reaching it would take a while, but perhaps by then the rain would stop and the pain her body was in as the end, the note was not all that important to her.

.

.

"My Lord." The short raven haired man calls a second time pulling his horse to a standstill a foot's distance from the black armor clad man. He quickly dismounts as the horse is still slightly moving and quickly makes his way forward to stop by his side. The rest of the men with him followed his example and waited by their horses.

With the grin still on his face the warlord turns to his left until he comes face to face with his caller. In doing so his gaze momentarily lingers on the form of the youngest member of the group, the green eyed teen with short dark brown hair still atop the chestnut stallion.

"You have found him I see." He tells the raven haired man thus putting a stop to any other remarks the latter might had had regarding the subject of his master's safety.

"Yes milord." The man replies with a slight bow of the head after which he quickly gesture to the boy to get off his horse. The latter obeys time in which the warlord turned his attention to one of the other soldiers commanding him to prepare his horse.

"It is Gabriel Sire." The raven haired man then ads following his master as the latter distances himself from the small group of men.

"We both already knew that. The quarrel no longer holds you two alone."

"He was here and made attempt on my nephew. I," he pauses and then allows his tone to sink an octave. "I could not leave him my Lord."

The choice had been difficult, duty over family, and he was loyal to both without question. And though regret towards his action lingered within his words, it was not true regret regarding his action. He could never come to regret putting his own belief higher that his duty.

"Nor have I asked it of you." Vlad says coming to a stop a few feet from the group and turning to his right to look the man I the eyes. "It is pleasing," his lips curl in a subtle smile while doing so. "To see you rebel in your decisions against me once more. The Child was cause worth the suffering."

"Yes milord."

"Then your eyes should not hold such a look of betrayal my friend."

"I had thought him friend." Ian replies pulling out a small piece of parchment and handing it to his master.

_Flashback_

_"Gabriel…" the teen whispers a second time with more confidence catching his breath and bringing his right hand up to the front of his throat and massaging it._

_"I know."_

_"I hid it, the message father gave me." Paul tells him removing his hand from around his throbbing throat and accepting his uncle's hand to stand up. "I noticed men following us before we reached the edge of the forest so I let them see me take the scrolls and change them." Leaning down he unties his left shoe and from within a cut in the inner leather he pulls out a folded piece of paper. "I never gave a piece to my sister" he smiles, though it is a sad smile. "Just a blank paper."_

_"Where is she Paul?"_

_"Safe…" he whispers lowering his gaze unable to look his uncle in the eyes while delivering such news."I hope."_

_Though the answer did not satisfy the older man, he lacked the necessary time to question the boy further. It would have to wait._

_Flashback end_

"My brother writes he has hidden all his papers in the Comana monastery and to seek out father Justinian. However, God's flock there holds more than gentle lambs."

"You believe Gabriel has fled there?"

"The Baron, his father, is still there in exile by your command sire." In giving the paper over Ian turns it around revealing the broken wax seal on its back.

"Is he?" Vlad ask almost amused. "Has he not yet fled?"

"No milord, not to my knowledge. But days before he had burned everything with the exception of his own work and papers. It is the sole reason why this paper even exists. My brother made sure to hide it under the Baron's nose until the time came to remove it from his house. I have had men follow his whereabouts since the day he murdered my family and they have informed me of his location."

"We cannot wage war inside a monastery. The men would not dare desecrate such a place regardless of _our_ own beliefs."

"He has no men My lord, only that of his son's. He is hiding not preparing for war."

"War is already upon us." The warlord contradicts him with a smile and a chuckle. "Was Gabriel there, with your nephew?"

"No sire. There was no sign of him."

"Call the boy." he request keeping the fact that he'd already known the answer to his question. His foe could not have been there considering he'd seen his eyes as he came galloping upon his horse, sword at the ready. Ian obeys gesturing for the teen to come closer. "Then come with us or find your family, the choice is yours."

"Uncle?" the teen asks stopping in front of the two men.

"Tell me where you sister is Paul." Ian demands as the words of his master hung almost like a sword over his head. It wasn't cruelty on his behalf, not in the least, but he could hardly afford to waist any more time and put even more distance between them and their target. The road to the monastery was long, the forest thick and filled with perils and would take them at least until the next day close to nightfall to reach it. "You will take my scout and find her, then bring her back and catch up to us."

Finishing his sentence he waits to see if his decision is accepted or not, but the warlord remains silent without announcing his disagreement towards his chosen path. He was more than expecting his nephew to agree to the terms and do as told believing he had more sense than letting a mere child wander off alone in a vast forest such as this. He was more than expecting an answer that implied the girl was safe and waiting in a secure part of the forest for her older brother's return while he dealt with those following them. Instead all he hears is…

"I can not." Spoken in a low and hesitant voice, the same reply as before. "I…She is not alone, I left her in capable hands. We…" he pauses taking in a deep and much needed breath considering the harsh look in his uncle's fierce gaze. "We had trouble with my Lord's horse and…"

"And?" Ian questions increase the tone of his voice in dissatisfaction at the answers he's obtained so far.

"We met someone on the way, she helped us. I left Nana with her when we parted."

"Her?" his uncle asks in surprise raising an eyebrow at the response provided. "You mean to tell me you left her with a woman you just happened to meet on the road?"

"Yes uncle." Paul replies with his head held high, though hesitance still lingers hidden within his words.

"What on God's good earth can a woman do?" the man snaps loosing all that remained of his patience because of that one sentence. "Mercenaries are after you and you leave her behind with a woman you know nothing of! Just what were you expecting her to do if they attacked? Lift up her skirt and let them pass?"

"No uncle. I…"

"You what?" he snaps once again ready to reach out and strike some sense into the youth, a gesture he performs halfway before he's stopped by the warlord. Paul's first instinct is to flee and dodge the blow, but he stands his ground while only closing his right eye in the process.

"Tell me of her." Vlad speaks up and his words prove strong enough to reel the noble back in to his senses before he struck the already injured boy damaging his face more than it already was. This time, it was neither pity nor mercy that urged him to intervene; it was simple curiosity.

"Is that necessary Sire? This foolish child has already…" Ian protests as diplomatic as possible finding it hard to swallow more idiocy bound to leave his nephew's lips.

"Describe _her_ to me." The warlord doesn't let up and presses the subject further, although neither of the two men pick up on the subtle change in his tone; neither do they notice the faint upward curl of the left corner of his mouth as he did so.

"A petite frame milord, she would come to your chest in height. With long flowing hair, a yellow in color, but more golden than plain yellow and strange clothing, all black with a red shirt cut bellow the throat and her eyes," he hesitates for no more than a second before revealing the color of the eerie crimson irises the woman had had. "Her eyes were _blue_."

"That is all? All that to offer her a life?" Vlad questions in light amusement unable to keep the smile from showing on his face.

"N…no. No of course not sire." Paul stutters in his reply remembering how truly enchanting the woman's face had been; how different than any before. "She was, she seemed very strange, but Nana took to her. She did not pose a threat at the time, she was civil, _nice_."

At those words the warlord chuckled out loud while the noble next to him merely let out a frustrated sigh all but slamming the back of his palm against his forehead.

"And if she tabbed a knife in your back would she be as nice then?" Ian could not help but ask and vent off some of his frustration while giving the teen as very upset look. "If you as much as hint you left your sister with her because she seemed _appealing_ to the eye I swear I will beat you to an inch of your life boy. "Have you at least asked for this woman's name and location?"

"No." The teen denies without hesitaiting any longer. "But I have told my sister to head for the church and left her the map to it. She **will** be there. I am **not** stupid uncle."

Paul's response comes just as suddenly and with the same tone as that of his uncle's before, the two being more alike another that either realized; especially when both became angry or frustrated. Even the look in their eyes was eerily familiar though one bore emerald green irises and the other dark chocolate brown ones. It was as if looking in a mirror and seeing oneself around 30 years younger. "I made my decision and I will live with it."

"I pray that you do."

The two men were so focused on each other that they failed to notice the change in both demeanor as well as facial expression in their master. 'Her eyes are blue', no her eyes most certainly were not blue. They were deep and dark, smoldering crimson irises... His lips curl a little more and for the briefest of second the tips of his canines sharpen and lengthen and his ocean eyes darken as he gazed upward towards the weeping sky, his entire expression taking on a rather mischievous and satisfied appearance that was hidden away by the strategically tilt of his head and the long strands of his bangs falling over his eyes. The though amused him greatly: How had his little draculina found herself so deeply immersed in his own private war within a war at such a large scale? He'd send her away for the sake of the hunger he knew she was suffering form, and yet it seemed their paths would cross again. His left hand tightened its grip on the ribbon before his fingers played with the loose ends in contemplation. He would have to give her the ribbon back which meant an opportunity to for them to _converse_ uninterrupted. War meant blood and blood would bring forth the Childe's demon for he had seen the sheer desperate need for substance, for blood raging inside her 'petite' frame as the boy had put it. Her hunger would doom them all.

How utterly delicious, glorious…

"Victoria…" he whispers her name with the utmost pleasure and the way it rolls off his tongues is nothing short but perfect, **victory** indeed.

"My lord?" Ian questions embarrassed by the lack of attention displayed on his behalf; he had not paid closer attention to his master's words. The conversation and argument with his nephew had dragged him deep and diverted him from the subject at hand.

"The woman's name is Victoria."

He repeats after which he turns around and starts walking once again ignoring the still pounding rain against the metal of his armor. As a result Ian quickly dismisses his nephew gesturing for him to return to the other while he obediently walks after the warlord until he's able to walk by his right side.

"Sire, you _know_ her?"

"She is a **friend**." He chuckles, though the grin still lingers. "A dangerous one that you should not so _easily_ discredit as **weak**. Death has tendency to follow her much too closely. The child will not come to harm."

"Then what will happen now sire?" the wind picked up, the storm growing in intensity. Both thunder and lightning scarred the sky repeatedly as the last of the preparations had been fully taken care of and all that remained was saddling up and moving forward.

"We go on." Vlad replies pulling the hood of his cape over his head and wet hair as their walk had somewhat distanced them from the group as well as the protective cover of the thick leaf canopy. Some of the trees were not yet as old or tall and their branches not as rich which let more water pass between them. His gaze then drops to the ribbon still clutched in his left hand and he pulls his gauntlet down a little with his right hand to stuff the small piece of fabric inside it and let it rest over his open palm. "And stand of at the monastery."

"And the men sire?"

"I do not believe there will be any issue in killing priests who are not faithful to their cause or calling." Vlad replies after readjusting the gauntlet back in its original position. "If Gabriel is smart he'll take the rocky path between the hills to get there before us and make his preparations. We'll be walking in an ambush."

"Then if that is the case, should I send word for more men?"

"No." he smirks. "We will have no need of more with _death_ already in front of us.

/Will we my draculina?/ he mentally ads lightly chuckling at the prospect of watching her spill blood on the steps of such a holly ground tainting it. High above the lightning that flashed and thunder that boomed made his blue irises seem red as he raised his head a second time and the hem of his hood slid backwards just a little.

"My lord?" I questions not sure he's fully understood the meaning of his master's enigmatic words. Yet the latter does not offer any other reply and instead still lingers with his gaze to he dark cloud bank covering the sky and the frequent flashes of light illuminating it in an almost rhythmic fashion. The grin he wore on his face grew while the look in his eyes only darkened.

.

.

Gabriel's horse collapses and falls to ground from the sustained effort he'd been subjected to for the passed hours. He'd been made to run for hours without stopping once until he could go no further. He lay there panting on his left side and sometimes missing a breath as he struggled to breathe. His rider on the other hand, having luckily escaped injury from the horse's fall, cursed several times while getting back up and kicking the horse in his back for failing in an effort to vent off some of his anger.

"Useless beast!" The ride had lasted the remainder of the day, the entire night afterwards as well as the early hours of the next morning and the horse could simply go no further. Sweat covered his aged body and large white spots were clearly visible on his coat especially around his front and chest while white foam covered his muzzle. Galloping all night through the heavy rain storm had all but killed him.

Just a few more miles and he would have successfully reached the campsite without having to go on foot for the rest of the way. Now he had no choice but to use his own strength to get there and that meant being late. The sun was still in the process of rising over the horizon as his steps brought him closer and closer to the campsite.

"You're late." A voice spoke up just as he entered the camp formed of several grey tents all lined one after another in three distinct rows of five each. The voice belonged to a black haired man clad in armor with almost shoulder long curly hair.

"So late indeed." A second voice followed this one belonging to a slightly younger man with chestnut colored hair tied in a small, low ponytail. They were brothers, the former no more than three years older than his sibling.

"I am **never** late." Gabriel replies walking passed the duo with every intention of ignoring the both of them.

"Have you disposed of the boy yet?" the raven haired man questions with the same condescending tone not allowing the man much room or time to dodge it. Enraged Gabriel grabs hold of the front end of his cape pulling him closer.

"Do not test me!" He hisses in anger right in the man's face. "And do not presume to tell me what to do."

"Yet you still fail." The man taunts with an upward curl of his lips as well as a snicker. "Miserably might I ad." He then proceeds to free himself wrestling Gabriel's hand from his clothing. "And like you we serve your father, yet unlike you we never miss our target."

"Not ever." The brother adds coming to stand beside his sibling. "Do not think yourself a higher than us just because you sprang from his loins one day. One killer is just as good as another, all that matters is how well he can do his job."

"You dare r…"

"The Baron is waiting." The raven haired man says cutting him off rather rudely.

"You best hurry along." The other adds pulling a small and folded piece of paper from beneath the faulds covering the sides of his body and the low end portion of his breastplate and throwing it his way.

Catching the paper Gabriel crushes it in his left palm giving the two men a deadly glare. However, he hadn't the patience to deal with them any longer and so he turned around and left fuming with anger. He crosses the campsite heading for the farthest tent.

"Father." he says with a small bow of acknowledgement upon entering the tent.

"You are late." The elder man almost instantly replies from behind his table and the papers he was working on. He had the same_emerald green eyes which his son had inherited, shot and somewhat faded reddish brown hair and small moustache covering his upper lip. _

"The fault was not mine Father. I…"

"I do not care. Nor do I wish to hear any more of this." He tells him putting a quick end to that part of the discussion. Instead he focuses on something else. "Have you read my instructions?"

"Yes Father."

"Good. Then you will go and make yourself ready."

"You would entrust **them** more than me?" the man slips raising his tone causing the elder man to drop what he was doing and look up from the small table he was writing on.

The look he gave him alone would have normally been enough to silence the younger man, but this time his anger was far stronger than the intimidating look on his father's face. As for the latter, instead taking offence at his son's behavior he merely puts down his pen and looks up at him in silence waiting.

"Have you disposed of Ian's line?" his tone remains eerily calm and to the point and it is more than clear he is not pleased. Gabriel chokes on his words biting his tongue to stop the words from passing his lips. He swallows before answering.

"Almost."

"Then see it done before demanding payment and reward for your failures."

"Wolves attacked us!" he shouts. "That was not my fault."

"And was it also not your fault that the boy lived? Was it also not your fault that his sister lives as well and that he gave her the document sealing **my** fate?" shouting the last part the elder slams his right hand on the surface of the desk rattling its surface from the force of the blow as well as inadvertently causing the small ink cup to tilt and fall. "Was is it your fault I wonder that the boy found his way back to his uncle and told him everything? Well is it?"

Gabriel doesn't answer back adverting his eyes. "Do not lower your gaze when I am speaking to you!" his father shouts getting up form his seat and slamming both hands this time. The sound alone is enough to force the youngling to obey. "The sole reason we make our stand at the monastery is because I want to his Vlad's face when I take everything away from him. He built it and I will see it burned to the ground."

"Yes Father." Gabriel replies most submissively.

"Yes father, yes father. That is all you can say." He mocks with an ironic smile and disapproving gaze.

"Then what would you have me say?" his son asks in return to which the elder can only smirk "Say that you will obey, for now."

"You know I will father."

"Then go do as I say. It is not always best to rush into battle without a proper head on your shoulders. Let _them_ have their fun as death has always been for them. We can wage war in their wake once their done."

"The priests will not let an army march inside their walls."

"They will." He contradicts with a mischievous smile taking his seat once more. "Priests never deny sanctuary to those of the faith of cloth. And cloth has already been provided for."

"Yes Father."

"Go on then."

With a bow and a nod g removes himself from his father's tent with the objective of heading for his own. All the while the two brothers prepared to march towards the monastery several miles away.

.

.

The sun was high above the forest line its warmth basking the old trees and lush green grass of the forest and field stretched out towards the horizon and the building becoming visible in the distance.

"Can you see it?" Nana asks from atop the large stallion, the cape still over her shoulders, though the hood was down allowing her now free raven hair to fall and sway behind her in the sunlight with each step the horse took.

"Yes." The cloaked figure leading the horse by its reins replies. The coat she wore the night before continued to shield her body from the touch of the sun as it had from that of the cold rain.

Flashback

_The very first rays of light touched the very top of the highest tree in the forest. With the rain having finally stopped the journey through the forest became much easier, yet not with the upcoming morning the vampire was left standing beneath the shadow of a large tree looking up at the sky and the line cast on nearby trees by the descending light. She watched as bit by bit the seemingly feeble ray of light engulfed everything in its path. Nana slept soundly still riding atop the black stallion with her cloak like a blanket over her shoulder and her hair no longer braided but loose over the cloak so it could dry itself in the warmth of the upcoming day. Seras too had her cloak on, yet her hands moved for the hood as the light got closer and closer and pulled it up seconds before it could touch her hair. Her arms then dropped below the fabric of the cloak as the sun's light touched the ground. She stood there basking in the warmth of the sun under the cover of the safety and cool darkness of her cloak. Her face was covered, yet a moment or so later her right hand hesitantly moved peering from behind dark security into bright foreign territory. Light shone on her marble pale skin reflecting off it as it did off everything else around her and warming it with its glow._

_Seras turned her palm upward slowly moving one finger at a time in wonder. Nothing happened when in fact her instinct was screaming at her to remove her hand from the offending and damaging light. _

_"Nosferatu…" she whispers attempting to remember something, anything. Nosferatu was…Nosferatu meant…_

_**Never walk in the light.**_

_She suddenly heard those words, though they were nothing more than a mere faded whisper accompanied by the same image of her and her master on that same bed she'd seen by the edge of the forest. _

_**Never…walk in the light…**_

_"Walk in the light…" as she speaks she draws her arm closer to her face as though examining it and really looking at it for the first time. She could see his face telling her not to. She could see the seriousness within his intense crimson eyes as he repeated the words once more cupping her face and urging her to pay even closer attention to the motion of his pale lips._

_**Never….walk in the light….until you h…**_

_Until what? She could not hear that last part despite seeing his pale lips move when uttering them with hesitation lining his deep tone. Until what? What could he mean? Unfortunately, the image fades long before she can find an answer least of all the one she's seeking for. _

_"Wait!" she calls reaching out towards the image only to find herself reaching out into nothing but thin air. "Wait…" it is so faint the light morning breeze takes it away without any effort at all. Her hand remains there, out in the open and exposed, still clad in the invisible warm blanket of the rising sun. _

_Don't walk in the open sun. But then why was her skin not hurting? Why was there no pain when everything was telling her seek out the shelter of darkness?_

_Seras clenches her hand breaking the skin of her palm open with her own nails as the voices inside her mind continued to fight and debate without pause. _

_Master said not to. Master said… _

_Without a second thought she flicks the hood off her head. Her eyes scrunch up tight in preparation for what was to come, yet nothing did. There was only warmth, gentle and warm, as it tenderly caressed her face. Her heart was beating frantically inside her chest and only slowed down a little when she took the chance to open her eyes. The right came first and the left and both kept watching the bright and blue morning sky. She'd never been this exposed and out in the open before; at least no her knowledge thus far. The tree and stormy skies had always protected her even then in the very beginning: near the edge of the forest, inside of it, whilst walking through the village. The light of the sun had never truly touched her in all its splendor and glory with such warmth and intensity._

_It was warm, warm and pleasant, like the sensual caress of a lover's hand. Seras smiles and her fangs come out to greet the light. _

_Never walk in the light…_

_And yet she had and it was so incredibly warm. _

Flashback end

"Will my brother be there?"

"Perhaps. That is what he has told you, is it now?"

Instead of answering Nana grows silent. Hope was hard to maintain when the same horse her brother left on came back to her bloody and marked by the touch of death.

The silence that fell between was never broken. Not until the forest was left behind, the vast field crossed and the wooden gate of the monastery came into view. There Seras reached out knocking three times waiting for the gate to open.

"Will he be here?" the girl can't help but ask once more, yet her voice barely has enough strength to speak.

"I don't know." The draculina's answer changes, her tone just as low, as the right side of the door opens revealing an elderly looking priest.

"Yes?" the tone of his voice is low and his voice hoarse from age as he steps over the threshold, hands held together in front of his body. The clothing he wore consisted of a simple dark brown tunic with a belt around the middle and a black beaded rosary hanging from it. His face was wrinkled with age, his hair very short and white, though his somewhat longer beard made up for the difference.

"We seek shelter." The cloaked figure speaks up, though her face continues to remain hidden from the light of the sun.

"But of course. God's house is open to all his children."

"Father Justinian." Nana calls out before another word can be uttered between the servant of God and that of the creature born from death and blood. She could be called anything but 'a childe' of God. It was almost _amusing_ as many things heard over the course of her stay so far had been and most assured would be in the future yet to come. The tips of her fangs peer out form under her upper lip, yet the shadow cast over her face because of the hood she wore continued to conceal them from sight.

It takes a little effort and struggling to get down and touch the grassy ground with her boots, but the young girl succeeds nonetheless.

"My dear, is that you?" the elderly priest questions squinting his aged eyes to see better and finally recognize the mass of raven black free flying in his face as the child threw herself at him embracing him with all the strength her small body could muster. "Oh but you have grown so much since last I saw you."

"I have missed you father, your stories especially."

"Life is full of stories childe and telling them is no secret or mystery. But tell me, are you alone? Have you come so far a distance by yourself?"

"My brother…is not here?" she asks and it's as if all the joy lacing her words died and the warmth of her breath turned ice cold.

"We have been expecting no one. Only priests come and go in this month of fasting and penitence to exchange words and prayers for those we've lost to the rage and greed of this war tearing this land apart and bleeding her more than she already has bled in the name of God."

"We got lost, in the forest." Nana tells him quickly adding that last part, yet unwilling to let go of him just yet. .

"No need to worry. Your bother knows his way home well enough."

"Yes. Yes he does." Though she agrees there is no trace of either hope or belief within her words. Her arms drop from around the priest's waist and she takes a step back.

"This is your friend then? She does not say much."

"She is." Nana tells with an attempted smile on her lips. "Victoria. She's helped me so far. We met her on the road, she's nice."

"I see. Then I can only thank you. I know this young one can be quite a handful at times."

"No more than I." As she answers the draculina raised her head just enough to let a tiny portion of light illuminate the lower half of her face; her fangs though, remain hidden for the moment.

"Come then I will see you settled. If Paul is lost he will to come here. Come."

Taking hold of the girl's left hand he turns around leading her into the monastery's courtyard while at the same time placing his own left hand on the second half of the door and pushing it open for the horse to enter.

"We have a small stable for the animals outback. Please take the horse there and I will see someone attend and help you shortly."

Seras nods passing him and the large hooves of the horse crush the tiny pebbles littering the ground in front of the door. "Come childe I will see you fed."

With that he waits for the stallion to distance himself a bit from the door before closing it and leading the girl inside while the draculina was left to cross the wide courtyard in search of the stable.

Reaching it several minutes later, she pushes the door open and to the side and steps inside while still pulling the black stallion after her. The stable was quite simple in design, just four box stalls on the wall to her left and a fifth at the end of the stall opposite of the stables door. The wall to her right had two square openings acting like windows, both of which possessing a pair of wooden blinds that when closed cut the stable off from the rest of the yard; only the first, the closest to the walking pair, was open. The first stall was filled with barrels of hay while the second as well as the fifth housed two goats respectively one light grey donkey whose yes seemed to watch their every move with great interest while his roommates seemed to care more about the hay in their mouths.

Seras led the horse towards the fourth stall directly opposite of the closed window, though once they got there the stallion refused to enter and his calm and gentle demeanor turned nervous and jumpy and refused to take another step forward neighing and raising his head in protest before stomping the ground with his front left foot once again.

"Shh…" she softly whispers bringing her left hand up to trace along the horses forehead while placing herself in front of him. "Do not threat." She smiles gazing towards the partially closed door of the stall from behind the long, golden strands of her bangs. Already, she could feel two men approaching, their thoughts like an open book as soon as instinct took over and her senses spread wide. "Shh…" the stallion's ears flickered in her direction, his head coming down and his bent leg coming to a stop in mid air before slowly sinking until the hoof touched the ground. His head then moved forward pressing into her chest and stomach with a low and soft nicker and a deep and loud exhale; his long wavy tail swished twice.

The stall door squeaks revealing the two strange men: one dressed in priest's garments while the other had simple clothing like those of a mere groundskeeper and consisting of a tunic, pants and boots.

"My Childe." The fake priest says upon entering and taking but a second to quickly asses the situation and the number of possible residence within the stable itself. From his position he can only the large body of the horse and not much the petite female with the exception of the golden color of her hair and a small bit of her black clothing; both her face and front were obscured by the horse now raising his head and his ears flickering back to the sound of the foreign man's voice.

"Father." Seras replies and as she does so her lips curl upward revealing pearl white lengthening fangs, yet just like the rest of her face they remained hidden from sight.

"We have been sent to make sure you are able properly settle in. The sable is quite small, but comfortable as you can well see. Our groundskeeper will tend to your horse and if you would be so kind as to follow I shall see you settled as well with food and proper shelter."

And all the while both their thoughts screamed out for death and bloodshed; perhaps even more just because she was a simple woman. How utterly naïve…

Seras's lips can't help but keep on smiling that same mischievous grin despite the sudden sense of disgust washing over her. No one was there, the courtyard empty with the exception of those three souls and the animals. No one would hear, no one would…and then the though occurred. Perhaps she should make those screams come to life.

"Very well." She agrees with a fake and sweetly smile that only encourages the devious thoughts of the men. However, all that faded as soon as the red of her irises peered from behind the black of the horse's coat and wavy mane. The shock was enough to startle them, yet seeing that her head immediately turned back towards the horse the shock itself did not last long. With a cooing motion and voice she removes the reins as well as the metal bridle and hangs them over the dividing wall between the third and fourth box stalls. She then walks passed the horse around his right side brushing her left hand over the length of his back while doing so. She passes the so called groundkeeper who recovers first and then walks forward approaching the beast. Their eyes lock for the briefest of seconds, blood red and onyx black, and she smiles revealing her fangs. Once she passes to his right, eyes glowing red, the man immediately turns around with a barely audible gasp as if he'd seen a ghost. Yet when he looks again Seras's head is positioned forward and she's walking as though nothing had happened. Then, ever so slowly, she peers over her right shoulder and her right eye glows once again while at the same time a hauntingly and eerie voice whisper death into his ears.

"This way please." The fake priest speaks up and it's only then that the spell is broken and the man's accomplice never saw anything. The woman was still walking but the distance between their joined positions as she passed him and the priest had never change since before he'd peered over his shoulder.

Seras continues to walk and does not stop until she's passed the fake priest as well and out the door without another glance behind her. The man exhales noticing the somewhat disconcerted look of his companion's face as though he were asking what the hell was wrong with him before making a small pointing gesture with his head towards the horse and turning around to follow the golden haired woman out the stable door. With a curse and a bite of his lower lip the later turns his attention to the black stallion.

"Fine." He murmurs in the other man's wake pulling out a small concealed knife from the hem of his pants from behind his back.

As predicted the courtyard was empty off all life. There was no one attending to the small vegetable garden in the corner, there was no one fetching water from the nearby well and no one walking around fingering a rosary as they crossed the yard from one side to another in silent pray.

"There is no one here." Seras takes a moment to state the obvious in as sweet and innocent a voice as she can muster and a matching ignorant expression written all over her face.

"The brothers all are at prayer. It is normal this time of day, but it is also our month of fasting and penitence and we do not leave our rooms except for the things that are essential to us, watering the plants, feeding the animal. You and the little girl will mostly be on your own.

"I see, thank you." She replies and the words barely pass her lips before his body falls lifeless to the ground trapped in both death's and her shadow's embrace. He never makes a sound as his neck is snapped in a swift and easy gesture by a black tendril like a thick coil of rope nor does his body ever hit the soil. The shadows cushion the fall cm before the act could take place. And though her instinct would have been more than pleased to hear their screams and taste their utter terror, the more rational part of her mind told her to wait and not give away her advantage so easily. Besides there were more _victims_ inside of the monastery and she could always have their blood spilled all over the halls and walls of the holly building.

No emotion crossed her face as she heard the horse call out a moment or so later. It was a high pitched neigh followed by the sound of something heavy falling. With just one more glance at the yard around her the dracilina turns around and walk back into the stable where the other man had met a fate no different. His body lay sprawled partially on his stomach and side by the hind legs of the horse with a large amount of blood covering his forehead and trickling down his face. The knife he had once held was just a couple of cm from his outstretched right hand. At the same time the base of the stallion's hind left hoof was stained in matching crimson and a very tiny cut on his canon. The horse nickers in greeting and turns his head seeing her come.

"Easy." Seras whispers coming to a stand next to his left side and placing her right hand over his back. She spares no more a glance at the inert body of the man before her shadows remove him from the spot dragging him away to one of the far corners of the stable where the fake priest's body already took up residence; from the door alone they would not be seen.

"It's alright." The horse neighs in reply bringing his head to her waiting hand and placing his muzzle into the cradle of her open palm. He wasn't injured despite the man's intention of crippling him by cutting one of the tendons in his leg. All he did manage to do was bring the tip of his knife next to his skin before the horse retaliated and pulled his leg from the latter's grasp and strike him on the head as he stood there bent in order to perform the heinous act. One blow had been enough to crack open his skull and kill him on the spot.

"I will come back." She says softly caressing his forehead and then the right side of his face with her left hand. Afterwards she pulls away and walks out the stall. In the distance she can almost faintly hear her name being called out like a forbidden whisper.

_Victoria…_

"You will take that wasted life if you want this one to live." The raven haired man spoke with malice and amusement dripping off his words as he circled the young girl. Having taken off the brown tunic his amour was once again visible and his curly hair a bit unruly and messy. Getting into the monastery had been far easier than expected. And it was more than ironic that all it took were simple garments only a handful would ever want to wear.

The child now stood frightened before the old priest with eyes wide and trembling hands hardly capable of holding the weapon within their grasp any longer. The latter had been forced to his knees in front of her while the brown haired man stood not a foot away holding a knife to the throat of a young acolyte and drawing blood from pressing the blade against the front of his throat just under his jaw. They were all in the main hall of the monastery, one double door behind her and two more smaller in size in front of her and to the right. A second story held a wooden railing and stone stairs which led up to it as well as a few more doors leading to various rooms. The hall itself held an altar in the far end of the room as well as two rows of benches on either side.

"You will not soil her innocent hands with blood." The elder spoke in indignation. Unfortunately, he quickly became silenced due to the young one gasping out loud when the sharp edge of the knife dug in deeper cutting into his flesh and spilling more of his blood which then trickled down the column of his throat.

The girl turned a horrified look towards the unknown victim who was hardly able to hold his own and whose face was bruised and bloody from the beating he'd first received before the weapon cut trough his skin.

"He's already dead. It would be a kindness." The words were whispered cruelly yet purred with sole intent of tempting her further and getting her to cave in. about three feet behind were two more men holding the other acolytes prisoner, both of them just as beaten and on their stomach with a foot over their back. Nana shook her head with watery eyes and trembling lips. She could not. She would not.

"Drop the knife." The voice of wisdom spoke with a king and gentle tone whilst the trembling of her hands increased tenfold. The boy's life hung in the balance and neither of them had any right over it.

"Then you'll be watching him die." The raven haired one shouted gesturing to his brother to finish the job. He started to move the sword so that it turned horizontally and easily slid alongside the front of the acolyte's throat ready to slice it open.

Nana screamed as the blade took that final moment before bathing in freshly drawn crimson, yet both came to a screeching halt as the twin wooden doors of the chamber burst open with force as a body was roughly pushed against them. The latter fell against the right side of the door and left a large crimson stain on its surface once the corps fell to his knees and the head dropped from its perch above the shoulders and rolled in the direction of the first row of benches. It left a serpent like trail over the path of floor it covered.

The doors refused to stay open and swayed backwards attempting to close once again, yet a moment or so later they were once again forced open so that they banged loudly against the stone of the walls. An intense gust of wind blew inside startling the 'residents' within the church, wind that moved an incredibly long curtain of pure gold wrapped around a thin, petite, yet curvy frame all dressed in black. Seras stood silent in the middle of said doorway. Her blazing red irises were carefully hidden from sight in that decisive moment required announcing her presence known. She neither revealed it or the sound of her voice not even after that first step inside whilst the sound of her heeled boots rang out loudly in the vast and hardly furnished space inside the stone church. The black cloak had reverted into the her coat once more.

Moving forward she headed towards the group of people near the other end, about a quarter way from the small wooden surface acting like an altar, and in doing so passed the man stationed several feet behind the tormented child, right next to the first to last row. Her right arm rose innocently enough until the moment it got to be parallel to the ground. It was then that she jerked it in a fast pace: one move, one precise act and soon enough a second head joined its brother on the church floor. She had made it appear as though she had required the aid of a long blade to accomplish the feat when in truth it had been one the inky black tendrils all along. Still, they were but mere mortals and mortals could easily be fooled into believing anything. All it took was the distinct cling of metal upon flesh for one or two seconds worth and the solitary spark of light, hardly there at all, reflecting off of the imaginary blade. She reached her destination, two roars behind the frightened child, at the same time her arm came back down and her head moved up.

"Forgive me, **father**, for I have _sinned_." The woman spoke in such sultry fashion it had everyone present stare at her unbelieving, more so when her bloody, crimson gaze fell upon them finally revealed for the horror it was along side the disturbingly sinister fanged grin curling her lips. It was a statement that frightened them all but also one which caught the immediate attention of the newly appeared figure hidden on the balcony of the second floor behind the doorframe of a simple door leaning into a small room: tall and covered in camouflage of darkness of the storm with a dark grey cape over his shoulder reaching almost all the way down, metal armor underneath and a long, crimson scarf over the lower half of his face as to conceal it along with the hood covering his head. He remained completely hidden from sight.

_Flashback_

_"Which way my Lord?" Ian ask pulling his horse alongside that of his master at the edge of the forest they just reached. The vast open field lay before them whit the building of the monastery visible in the distance. _

_"We go around." The latter replies urging his horse to move with a soft kick to the side. The rest of the group followed going back into the forest and circling the field so that they remained out of sight until they reached the other side of the monastery. Heavy foliage covered a concealed entrance carved in the bedrock of a rocky hill. It led down to a system of tunnels, some naturally formed whiles others were hand made. _

_"Didn't the passage collapse upon construction sire?" _

_"We aren't taking that one." Vlad replies with a smirk._

_Flashback end_

"Sire?" Ian whispers approaching the black clad man as silently as possible while keeping his tone of voice low. Blood dripped from the tip of his sword as he and his men had _silently_ removed the majority most of the brother's men without causing a general upraise and alarm. All that was left were the four occupying the main hall as the tow outside of which s had already disposed of. His gaze too falls on the golden haired woman for the very first time.

"We wait." He replies content to simply watch from the shadows fort the time being.

Relief washes over Nana's face at the sight of the vampire and she's just about to call out to her for help when the raven haired brother commands to kill the boy whilst removing his sword from its sheath and stepping forward.

At the same time his brother complies sliding the acolyte's throat with a swift and deadly move.

"No!" the girl shouts dropping the knife, but it's already too late; his body is thrown to the floor as he make a few gurgling sounds as his own blood floods his windpipe suffocating him. "Victoria!" she then calls turning around to face her. Unfortunately the cruel man hits her hard over the left cheek causing her to fall to the floor with a bloody lip.

"Do be silent." He tells her taking a few more steps forward and analyzing his opponent from top to bottom. "A woman in a monastery that is not a nun? How very interesting." He smiles most cunningly and stops short of a foot's distance from his target. "You bare no sword. Or will faith save you?"

Seras stays silent without taking her eyes off the strange man before her.

"Do you not speak?" he questions turning his head over his left shoulder in order to gesture to his brother to go take care of the rest of the acolytes.

"You should not do that." Seras warns him without raising her voice and a somewhat emotionless tone.

"Will God punish me if I do?" he makes a second gesture and this time of the two men accompanying him and his brother moves away from his victim and pushes the long table posing as an altar. He laughs letting his eyes wander over her curvaceous frame. "Or just you?"

"I don't care." Her reply is short and honest. Since the moment she stepped inside the building the scent of blood had overwhelmed her adding to the discomfort she felt in her body. She wanted it and hungered for the taste of blood, yet at the same time the smell made her sick.

"Then I'll just kill you and be done with it. A shame, but at least I'll enjoy it."

Just them, before either of the two could act, a group of three men came running through the door, sword in hand.

"Damn it." Ian curses under his breath as his own men run in disregarding the order to stay put until summoned.

"Kill them." Vlad tells with without turning to look at him. There was no point in hiding any longer now that their position had been compromised. And as Ian left his side he lingered in his position a little longer keeping his narrowed gaze focused on the golden haired female, _his draculina._

The first of the three men attacked from behind not knowing whether the woman was on their side or not, but s turned around towards the right before he reaches her and grabbed firm hold of his left arm and made a 360 degree sing with her body pulling him along. That done she immediately lets go and pushes him making him lose his balance and trip backwards on his own two feet and averted her attention to the second victim foolish enough to come at her. His sword moved to strike but shes much faster and lands a direct blow into his side.

Seras dogged the sword coming towards her at full speed by moving her right arm in circular fashion around the front of her body. She forces him to follow said move and once the sword got over her head she jerks to the right avoiding to make contact with his far larger body. Instead she lunged for the second man before her sword could even drop an inch. Their weapons clashed screaming loudly as they did so. The force of the blow pushes the man backwards giving her ample time refocus on the first. She turned for but a second to the left to look at him then twisted and went on one knee the other way so that the edge of her blade hit his abdomen in a parallel position to the ground and cut straight through his clothing. She barely had time to pull her arm back, push her feet into the hard stone floor and propel herself forward. Her left shoulder hit him in the chest hard enough to shove him backwards. By then her first opponent had regained his composure and foolishly attempted to attack from behind, but the vampire turned around towards the right before he reached her and grabbed a firm hold of his left arm and made a 360 degree swing with her body pulling him along. That done she immediately let go and shoved him into the other man just barely managing to get up on his feet. Both hit the ground and would not rise back up. She was barely done when a pair of strong hands wrapped themselves around her chest and arms pinning her limbs to her sides in a crushing embrace. Chuckling filled her ears as the man's breath caressed the right side of her face sending a wave of revulsion down her spine as she felt him crush and hug her chest in a far too _intimate_ gesture.

"I wonder if you taste as sweet as you look."

The words were sickening and as soon as they left his mouth, his lips purposely brushing against the shell of her ear leaving a thin moist trail, her pupils dilated and the red of his darkened in bloodlust and anger. She snapped and with it so did the raven haired man's right arm as she grabbed his wrist freeing herself and twisted it with such force she not only broke the latter, but popped his shoulder out of its socket as well nearly ripping the entire limb from his body and forcing him to his knees in a cry of pain. The sword dropped from his hand clinging against the stone floor, but no sooner that it did so she kicked it upward with her left foot and cut of his head all in the blink of an eye. The body fell lifeless slipping from her grasp as she released the dead man's wrist, blood pooling all around his shoulders. His once feared sword lay in Seras's left hand, the blade coated in a very fine rivulet that ran along its entire length before dripping to the ground beside her boot.

The room fell into deafening silence. All the fighting came to a halt. Even the raven haired man's brother was shocked and taken aback by the ferocity and speed of her attack and had thus lost his concentration falling victim to the blow of Ian's sword to the back of his hand. Tow other men immediately surrounded him taking away his weapon and securing him on his knees with his arms forcibly held behind his back.

It was then that the sound of clapping filled the room as the raven haired warlord stepped forward without a care of the remaining men standing in the room around himself and the spitfire golden haired woman before him. And due to the gauntlets he wore the sound was all the more powerful.

During the entire struggle he had not moved from his position neither had he blinked as his dark blue irises had been busy following the entire spectacle. It was indeed something for such a _surprisingly_ small girl to best three accomplished fighters in single combat so easily. Then again they were nothing compared to **his** _little girl_.

"Do not." He hoarsely commands finally stepping out of the shadows and revealing himself as he saw more men ready their weapons preparing to attack the woman if need be. He unclasped his cape, the dark fabric falling off his shoulders as it was helped by his left hand throwing it to the side and over one of the free wooden benches. A sudden, rather devilish, smirk graced his lips as he began to walk towards her. the once untamed mass of raven hair cascading down his back clung to both his face and armor and fared no better than the light golden locks of the woman just two feet in front of him. The two held their heads high; eyes locked and focused on the others movement. They slowly began to move in circles around each other once the draculina considered him a tad to close for comfort.

"Why not fight me, _little one_?" he asked out of the blue, tone rich and alluring meant to ensnare it intended victim as he pulled his sword out of its sheath. He simply could not resist. The smooth metal lightly ringing as it grazed the edges of the sheath the movement elegant, precise and quite fast as the sharp edges cut through the air.

The draculina's eyes move up and down his armor clad body studying him with the greatest of interest. That first time meeting him in the forest had been far too brief to allow herself the sweet indulges and the scent of blood a secondary unwanted distraction. But now he was here, right in front of her, and calling out to her in more than simple words and voice. Then, without warning, his sword rushes towards her and the twin blades clash against each other clinging loudly. His blow and resistance to her is much more powerful than that of the other men who'd attacked her and she's forced to tap into her vampiric strength to keep the small space left between them intact. His body hovers over hers proudly and dominantly enforcing both his will and strength without having to utter a single word or take any other course of action against her.

The simple gesture was more than enough, much, much more.

"Even now?" he asked in a hoarse, breathless and yet mocking tone with a wide toothy grin.

She swiftly jerks her head to the side and her body and sword away from the sharp edge of his weapon without replying. She moves seconds before the second swing is swung and brought back towards her as she pushes the tips of her feet strongly into the ground in order to propel herself backwards and away from him. The edge of the blade cut far too closely for comfort right next to the underside of her jaw, so close in fact it miraculously missed her skin, but nicked a few golden strands sending them to the ground as she expertly twisted her body to get away. She took a change and grabbed his sword with her right hand cutting her palm open and coating the sharp edge with her blood while twisting her left so that the heal of her hand struck a strong blow to his jaw without having to drop her own weapon in the process.

As her body moved so did the blade; up and around the front of Vlad's chest and mm away from touching the plates of his armor. They moved together in a perfect circle like extensions of each other, the draculina twisting to the right until both her and her blade made a 180 degree turn and was once again facing his armor, the back this time. Her hand grabbed hold of the scarf tied around his throat and some of his raven hair at the same time and pulled him with her so that, by the end of her acrobatic performance, she was standing behind him blade at his throat. She nudged one leg against his left knee bringing him down and tugged at his hair pulling his head backwards and exposing the front of his throat. Her blade pressed up against the front on his throat positioned directly over his Adam's apple so that it put a mm deep cut into his skin.

"Master..." Seras's lips brushed against the shell of his right ear in an almost sensual fashion as she hoarsely whispered those words, her temple sliding against his. The solemn look never left the raven haired man's face. Not even in the brink of a sword dangerously pressed into his throat threatening death. Should it cut his blood would be one of many to forever stain the cold, sharp and lifeless metal.

"Planning on assassinating me, little one?"

Ian as well as three of his men rushed forward swords at the ready, but were stopped by the warlord himself.

"Do not!" he harshly demanded raising his voice. There was no fear only amusement lining the power of his words.

The men all stopped in their tracks not wishing to further jeopardize the life of their leader. A simple girl had brought him to his knees so easily and in a matter of minutes; a feet none of them had ever managed to do.

"Why not take my life?" His baritone sensually purrs in a teasing fashion as if asking for death.

"My master says struggling prey is more fun than submissive one, at least at first."

She pressed her face into his charcoal hair and raised the blade from his throat and instead pressed the flat part of the tip against his left cheek.

That said she pulled away and lowered her weapon moving around him to stand in front him.

"Does he?" he chuckles getting to his feet. There is hatred, anger or resentment within his words to show of his offence at being pushed to his knees by a mere woman.

Seras paused for a moment before grinning widely and purposely lengthening her fangs until they reach her bottom lip before quickly retracting them not a second later. And as all the men were behind her, he would be the only one to see them.

"He does." She offered the blade up by holding it by its handle in front of her chest and perpendicular to the ground; her elbow was bent and her fingers tightly wrapped. Her eyes observed his ascension until he was standing proudly before her less than half of a foot away. The rough texture of leather part of his gauntlet encased the fragile surface of her hand as he extended his right hand out and easily pried the handle out of her grasp. Their eyes met in silent agreement.

"You will obey this master then."

"For now, my master."

She lightly bows her head with a smirk and a second showing of her fangs as the left corner of her mouth curls upward. With the battle now over the warlord briefly turns his attention to his second in command demanding they leave. All the while his gaze never falters from the young vampire.

"Is that wise sire?" Ian asks sheathing his sword. He held trust in his master's judgment, but one could never be too careful. A fact all the more known due to the actions of some of the men under his own command, me who play on both fronts only to betray one if not both in the end.

"She is not a threat to _me_." He smirks most pleased, noting but pride in his blue eyes as he studies _his little one_.

Ian pauses in his actions allowing his own gaze to linger on the strange young woman before doing as told. Reluctantly, he accepts. "As you wish." he knew better than to argue with the warlord, especially around things he set his mind to. There was never any second guessing himself.

Bowing he turns his attention back to his men and the prisoners, the brown haired man especially.

At the same time the warlord continue to smile as he moves to walk forward and towards the draculina.

/Come little one./

His deep voice echoes in her mind as he passes her.

/Yes my master./

To be continued…

Till next time, and reviews would be mostly appreciated.

Bye.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 14**

Sorry for the delay, but as I pointed out I won't have that much time for my story so I'll do my best to try and post at least every two weeks, maybe once a week if I can find more time to work on it. There's just one more chapter in this part of the story before I finish this fragment of Alucard's memories. More will be presented later on.

Thanks to Pamila de castro and Osaka Kasuga for reviwing the last chaper :).

p.s. I'm introducing a new character in one of the flashbacks, a vampire, and will be presenting more of him in chapters yet to come.

Chapter 14

_/Come little one./_

_His deep voice echoes in her mind as he passes her._

_/Yes my master./_

Leading her up the stairway no one said a word and there was nothing but the sound of metal clinging and heel scratching the stone surface of each individual step. The second floor of the monastery was empty and silent unlike the floor left behind and the sound of men still arguing and the prisoner struggling against them. Most of the doors were closed, yet one stood open, light coming out of it and illuminating the stone floor and threshold before it. It was a small room with a square table pinned with one side against the wall, directly opposite of the door and supporting only two matching, wooden chairs. Shelves lined the walls on either side of the table acting like a desk in the small makeshift treasury of the monastery. A window was on the wall to their left nestled in the small space between the shelves while a tapestry hangs from wall to their right.

"My lord, wait." Ian calls after them climbing the stairs and hurrying down the hall just as the two cross over the threshold. The strange golden haired woman had gone in first whilst the warlord remained by the door turning to look over his right shoulder as the raven haired man came up to him stopping by his side.

"What of the prisoner sire? Do you wish him disposed off?"

Vlad's immediate answer would have been 'yes', but then he pauses in his reply thinking the situation over. "No." he replies. "Have him _interrogated_ first."

"Only interrogate? Then should we show any leniency my lord?"

The latter smiles, but it's not a playful or a simple smile. A devilish smirk would have described it far better. "If you wish. But do not _break_ him just yet."

"Perhaps we should let our _witch_ read all of their minds then? Or just curse them." The noble can't help but laugh at the notion as he jokingly refers to that form of interrogation. During their journey he'd gotten to know a little more about the young woman his nephew had entrusted his niece to: the so called witch.

"They are hardly worth the trouble."

He hadn't expected the woman to answer and so, when she does, she effectively puts an end to the light chuckle passing his lips. Her back is still to him, but her head partially turns to peer over her right shoulder just enough to allow the corner of her right eye to meet his gaze. "Others will be here in less than an hour." She then adds with great certainty and conviction in her words whilst breaking eye contact. This too surprises him and his gaze inadvertently shifts over to his master as if questioning the validity of that very answer.

"Leave us." The warlord says closing his eyes for a moment offering no other comment regarding the subject. Whether it was real or not meant nothing all. If they come they will be read, either way more crimson was bound to stain the holly ground beneath their feet. "I wish to have words" he pauses. "In private." His smiles and the upward curl of his lips does not falter as he speaks in a low and calm tone of voice.

"Yes sire."

With a bow of his head the Ian exits the room pulling the door behind him in the process and thus closing it.

A moment later the warlord walks up to the small wooden table removing both gauntlets from his hands and placing them on the table before turning a seat around. He then unclasps his cape and flings his cape to the side letting it drop to the floor before taking a seat on one of the small stools, the metal of his armor clinging as he does so. He turns the chair around and partially extends his long legs in front of him sitting comfortably. His eyes narrow in slight amusement as the same sketch of a smirk still graces his lips.

"Draculina." His rich baritone voice penetrates through the silence of the room, a hint of delight lingering within.

Seras stared back watching him settle in silence and utter her name so _sweetly_.

"Who are you?" she asks stepping forward. And unlike last time, when coming up the stair, her steps were now so light her heels barely made a sound over the wooden floor. She stops just before reaching his knees. The question itself was irrelevant.

"Who do you think I am?" he responds with a question of his own while placing his right elbow on the surface of the table next to him and then resting the side of his face against his bare palm and flexed fingers. The light shining in through the window cast a faint glow on the pure charcoal black color of his long hair heightening his features. The cheekbones were more prominent, the jaw line more defined and the muscles in his throat corded and thick despite the crimson scarf halfway wrapped around it. The former straighter strands were now wavy and three times as long easily reaching his hips when he stood and pooling like a second cape, almost like a veil, around the length of his broad shoulders.

"Or is his face still not mine little one?"

"It's hard to say." She answers suddenly finding herself in front of him cupping his face between her hands as her knees touch the wooden edge of the chair he was sitting in, her legs perfectly nestled between his and brushing up against the metal of the cuisses. The light beard, perhaps no older than a day or two, felt rough against her open palms, yet made it all the more real at the same time.

The sudden act had him raise his head to further accommodate her as well as drop his right arm and move it and his left around her sides beneath the black leather coat she wore. His hands moved up slowly tracing the flawless curves of her thighs and hips stopping only after reaching the dip of her waist and pulling her even closer. A few of his raven strands fell over the left side of his forehead and shoulder as he moved and looked up at the little girl finally a head taller then him due to him sitting down.

Seras's thumbs trace the very small scar like line over his left cheekbones caressing the rest of his face as she leaned in a bit closer studying the depth of his blues eyes and chiseled features. Golden strands of her own fell forward brushing against the raven ones over his left shoulder. Her beautiful, melancholic crimson eyes were so intently focused on him he refused to blink as not to miss one moment of it. The warlord remained silent: watching and waiting.

Seras's hands then began to move more boldly as her fingers tenderly explored his face. She moved them down towards the well defined line of his strong jaw and then back up and to the sides until the tips of her fingers disappeared in the mass of raven silk framing his face. All the while she was leaning in slowly one cm at a time. Their noses were close enough to touch and he could see his own reflection within her mesmerizing gaze. She blinked once tilting her head a little to the left and parting her lips, coming even closer if possible.

"Seras…"

"What if you are?" her answer becomes a new question thus refusing to end the particular cycle of conversation.

"Am I?" the game was simply far too good to deny. "My face is my own."

"Perhaps." She draws back just enough to cause his grip on her waist to tighten in reflex preventing her from increasing the minuscule distance between them. There was the slightest growl, a deep sense of displeasure at her sudden choice of acting, but it was still just a game; a fact so much more evident by the beautiful upward curl of Seras's full lips. Her hands move down once again, this time choosing the column of his throat until her fingers slipped beneath the hem of the red scarf tilting his head further back. His skin felt soft and warm to the touch when compared to her far colder and paler flesh. Almost every inch of skin crossed over was left with a scorching path just begging to be caressed once more in the wake of her ghost like touch. It did not take long for her fingers to find his lips and traced the contours in precise detail applying little pressure in the process; her movement ever so slow, ever so deliberate.

"You've grown so much since out time together in the burning stable."

"The child calls me a witch." she smiles. "So I act like one.""

"Yet you hardly are a witch draculina. What you are is…" he pauses. "_Different_."

Oh the pleasure in those mere words…exquisite.

"Could I always." Seras stops reflecting on her words for a small second. "Be like this? Do these things? Even…not realizing that I do them?"

"Of my blood yes." he replies. "It is instinct that drives you on, a most glorious sight indeed little one. And it will soon be made all the more clear by the blood that will match your eyes, more blood that you will spill on the steps of this _holly_ ground." He chuckles with the greatest amusement only to find himself silenced not a moment later by her small yet soft touch. Her eyes remained opened till the very last second when she let them close joining their lips together. The kiss, no more than a light touch, had him tighten his grip on her small body even more and respond to her fragile and shy kiss with equal affection. His own hands began to wander from her hips to her lower back dipping under the hem of her crimson shirt once he found it and then moving up along the curve of her spine feeling her back arch ever so slightly in response to the wonderful sensation. His hands were hardened by the many battles and the use of a sword, their texture so much more defined then the utterly silk like softness of the young vampire's flesh.

"Master…"

Her voice becomes this sensual whisper calling out to him with such adore it was difficult to distinguish the cause of the shiver of pure delight suddenly running down his spine. Her lips were parted and full and barely a few mm away, tantalizingly close, as she gazed deeply in his eyes. Every breath brought their bodies closer, their chests joining together for the briefest of moments before parting time and time again.

"Have you taken the blood my Seras?" his tone deepens, eyes narrowing in slight curiosity. Had she truly obeyed her _master_?

And although reluctant he pulled his right hand away from her tantalizing flesh and instead brought it to her left forearm tracing its length until he reached her wrist. He pushed her sleeve up, but there was nothing there. The red silk ribbon that should have come into view was missing and thus he was unable to entwine his fingers in the small bow.

"Yes..." she whispers feeling his long fingers move up her wrist and encircle it.

"And?" he purrs genuinely interested.

"You must know. You told me to go."

Flashback

_"Seras…" the man on top of her purrs in a deep and hoarse tone that has the sound of her own name sound devilishly beautiful and sinful. Warmth caresses her lips as the word is spoken fighting off the ice cold sensation of both the raindrops as well as the cold of the storm. The weight on the lower half of her body did not change, but the once on her chest did causing the metal to dig deeper and press harder into her ribcage and soft, ample breasts. _

_"Run." _

_The depth of his baritone pushes her on at a deep and instinctual level and she's gone in the blink of an eye, a trail of silken black mist in her wake._

Flashback end

"Tell me." He purrs with a glint of pure mischief shining in his deep ocean blue eyes.

"Why?

"Because you hunger greatly." He replies in full knowledge of the situation, of the hunger starring him down from the very depths of the ruby red pools of molten crimson. "And because the blood you took, though it was myself that urged you on, did **not** _satisfy_ you." The word was barely whispered and yet seemed to have complete control over the young vampire. "No at all, has it? You hunger to this day." And the words spoke less volume than the crimson shift of her irises, the color darkening and swirling like the blood he was referring to. Vlad stares into her face a little while longer before lowering his gaze down to the middle of her chest where his left hand was already busy undoing the top buttons of her shirt; she'd never felt his hand leave his back. One by one the buttons came undone baring his chest and the black lace of her bra to his view. Throughout it all he continued to speak.

"It hurts does it not? Each breath you take brings pain, each heart beat you heart torture to your ears; temptation to your aching fangs."

Flashback

_Seras stumbles to the right still trying to keep her meal down, but the taste of the blood inside her mouth turned sour and vile the more time passed and within just a few seconds only she's forced to bend over and cough it all out. The quantity was no where near significant, just a few gulps nothing more, but her body trembled from the effort and her shoulders quivered as her arms fought to keep her up once the effort had subsequently forced her to move back and then drop down to her knees. Pain gripped her stomach causing her to bend forward over her knees so that her forehead touched the forest floor. Her lips were smeared in blood and parted in a silent scream showing off her bloody fangs. They retract slowly and just as painfully, but the pain does not last and she's soon able to stand. Her right hand grips her stomach while the left brushes against her mouth wiping off the remained of the crimson liquid with the back of her sleeve. It's only then that she notices the missing ribbon that should have been tied around her left wrist. Her eye linger on the spot trying to remember when and where she'd lost it, but the moments spent as a wolf impaired her._

Flashback end

"It will not end." His words hold no room for doubt.

"Why?" her voice whispers softly as she leans her forehead over the top of his head burying her right hand deeper into his black hair. Her fingers trade with ease through the loose strands and for a moment it all seems perfect. At least until he came across the scar on her chest.

The warlord stayed silent and did not utter a single syllable, no even as he herd her gasp and felt her body jerk back as if stung by a bee when his left hand and fingers gently pressed against the scar on her chest tracing its uneven edges most carefully and diligently. Only the last two buttons of the shirt remained closed with the red of the fabric bringing out the pearl white color her skin. The scar on the other hand was red, inflamed and swollen, almost throbbing under his light touch.

Seras attempts to pull back from the burning contact, but not enough to escape his grasp since his right hand quickly released her wrist and instead sought to wrap itself once more around her middle. And the last two buttons were still undone his arm pushed the edged of the shirt further apart barring more of the left side of her chest to his gaze. Her head no longer rested on top of his and her left hand fell to his shoulder as though trying to push him away.

"Why are you scarred?" he asks her still tracing the uneven scar with the tip of his right index finger. Each mm increased the light tremble he easily felt beginning to radiate off her due to the close proximity of their bodies. The draculina leans her entire weight into his embrace, shoulders dropping and eye closing shut as his lips brush against the base of her throat on the left side in the small dip of her clavicle causing an immediate reaction from her: her fingers graze his scalp almost to the point of pricking the upper most layer of his skin while the rest of her body molds against his leaving barely enough space for his hand to move between them and trace along her chest a while longer.

"Have you found what you are my Childe?"

Seras hesitates in her reply contemplating her answer before uttering it. Have you found what you are? A more than simple question with an even simpler answer.

Flashback

_Seras turned her palm upward slowly moving one finger at a time in wonder. Nothing happened when in fact her instinct was screaming at her to remove her hand from the offending and damaging light. _

_"Nosferatu…" she whispers attempting to remember something, anything. Nosferatu was…Nosferatu meant…_

**_Never walk in the light._**

Flashback end

_"Nosferatu."__ And yet she had and it had been beyond mere words…so warm. _

"What is Nosferatu draculina?" his left hand moves down her chest only to trail back up with the back of his fingers when done. "What do you feel when I touch you? What is it you see that frightens you so?"

Seras stays silent, a soft sigh the sole note to leave her throat, and despite her body still trembling and in pain she refused to escape his embrace. The discomfort was countered by the sensual movement of his lips against her throat. And yet the sensation his blunt teeth had against her skin felt incomplete somehow. It lacked the suspension the sharp tips of fangs brought to the surface, never knowing when they would strike and rip through her flesh; pierce it and bask in the warmth fragrance and taste of her blood. She was waiting for it: the strong, dominating bite and the penetration that came with it along the scent of her own blood on his lips that always came with it.

"Speak." And when he spoke he made it sound like a forgotten form of torture; his tone was deep and demanding and the vibrations in his throat caressed her moist skin much like the warmth of his breath. "Why do you walk in the sunlight?"

"You bite me." The answer was the most beautiful plea he'd ever heard. She wasn't replying, she was pleading for a 'bite' and a broken fragment of her shattered life; a feeling that was forever bound to the touch only his fangs could inflict within her. "You always bite me."

_Flashback_

_Alucard's fangs sink in deep ravaging her flesh without a hint of restrain or mercy as his body crushes hers against the wall trapping her between it and himself. His lips moved, mouth devouring, with expertise planting open mouth kisses over the same spot over and over again ensuring no precious crimson droplet would wander astray and be lost. His fangs could not stay still as his victim delighted in the sensual dominating force of the bite and arched her neck further into his mouth. Thus they struck with each opportunity, biting down each time he would take a gulp and retracting a second later just enough to let more rich blood escape from the twin small holes._

_The vampire had his left arm pressing against the wall of the corridor beside the right side of her face while the other was tightly wrapped around Seras's waist. Each and every muscle in his limb was tightly corded causing the black fabric of his shirt to mold over the various layers like a second skin while holding her up and pinned beneath his body the wall itself. _

_"Master…" Seras sighs with the utmost pleasure into his left ear arching her back and pressing her chest further into his. She was hopelessly trapped like a bird in a golden cage, yet enjoying every sinful moment of it. _

_Alucard's open palm moved down her lower back as she arched her back more into his embrace allowing his hand more room to move at will. She had both her arms tightly wrapped around his throat and shoulders: one deeply lost and entangled in the long ebony strands while the other was busy sinking the tips of her nail into his shirt and right shoulder pricking his skin. They supported the weight of her body once the vampire's hand found itself wandering along the curve of her spine, left hip and finally her bare thigh pushing the veil crimson skirt she wore aside further than it already was and raising her off the ground without a hint of restrain while wrapping her leg around his hip._

_He then pulls away from her throat groaning low and deep against the shell of her ear and her heated flesh as the last bit of her virgin blood taken from her trickles down his throat. Several rivulets trickle from his stained lips down his chin and jaw, but do not last long as the draculina laps them up one at a time. The vampire presses her back further into the hard surface of the wall removing all possible traces of space left between them. His chest vibrates with the sound of his low pitched growl, his head lowers and his eyelids drop with the flashing of a dangerous shade of red as the predatory glint within his blood stained irises grows to dangerous proportions forcing her to lift her own head just to be able to reach._

_Seras leans in pulling him closer. Her arms tighten their grip in, nails sinking in a bit more bordering on the edge between pleasure and pain. Her own eyelids drop in a sensual manner, lips parting in silent invitation wanting more than ever to partake in that first forbidden kiss. _

_The closes painting to their position falls dropping from its nail while the entire room falls pray to the slow upraise of inky black tendrils from beneath his feet and shadow. Window glasses begin to crack, the lines fine and reaching upward like the new branches of a sapling tree. The atmosphere is dark and heavy and drowning in a pitch black sea of pure lust and power. _

_Seras closes her eyes utterly content at being at his mercy. Their lips almost touch…_

_"Alucard!" Integra shouts from the top of the main staircase._

_The moment was shattered._

_Flashback end_

She had no real memory of such a moment ever existing. What they were doing? Why their clothes were so different? Why everything felt and seen was nothing, but a lie that felt anything but right. It was…it felt…so shallow. As though what should have been was a shadow of the truth.

"Is that all you see?" his lips curl against her sensitive skin brushing against it once again. The sound of his voice startles her waking her from the moment and the small forgotten piece of history etched within her blood. "You remember so beautifully." He purrs and, as he speaks, there is a distinct change in the blue shade of his eyes, a hesitant fleck of crimson amidst a perfectly calm blue sea. At the same time his left hand held her in place while the right left the painful scar behind. Moving instead to the right his fingers trace the invisible scar that should have marked the right side of her chest.

"And this?"

Once again her body reacts to his touch by attempting to pull away; it no longer feels like a mere bee stung, but a far more damaging blow. Her chest felt torn as if ripped apart by his very hands. Her eyelids dropped and with it the haunting sound of a piercing gunshot finds a way to reach her ears.

_Flashback_

_"Ahh!" The fake priest shouts as the bullet rips though his chest without mercy after already having passed though the young woman's right lung. As her body falls with blood flowing from her partially parted lips, the runes on the strange man's right hand glow brightly before his arm impales his chest with a mad, satisfied grin on his lips. His arm twists within him, the grin widening, destroying the rest of his heart and watching with immense satisfaction as his body turns into a mass of ash which them disappears entirely._

_Seras's consciousness was slipping from grasp as the blood already staining the right side of her blue shirt rapidly grew in size. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes though her body was far too numb to feel any residual pain inflicted by the merciless shot. Image no longer held any meaning. Not even that of the red clad stranger appearing in front of her. He was but a blurry shadow of red, black and yellow from the moon stationed above him. Or was that too starting to shift and be stained as red as her uniform. _

_"I had to shoot through you to pierce his heart." The stranger spoke and the sound of his deep voice became almost like a lifeline holding her to the mortal plain just a bit longer. "I'm sorry but you're dying and there's no time left. The choice is yours. What do you want to do?"_

_Watching the dying girl reach out to him with a trembling gloved hand and crystal clear tears dripping from her eyes was like waiting for a masterpiece to be finished. One stroke and it would be more beautiful than anything else, one stroke and it could all crumble into nothingness. For a moment only he took the time to gaze within those glazed azure orbs and the see the 'death' that had forever shadowed her young life; an exquisite painting indeed. _

_Then…it finally happens. Her arms drops, death just a stone's throw away, but he's there to catch her. Kneeling next to her fallen form with his left knee down on the blood soaked ground, the right up and his crimson coat sprawled like a blanket around him he gently held her right hand in his left; their palms a prefect match. His orange glasses shone with an unnatural reddish glow and his lips never faltered in displaying the purely satisfied grin he wore on his face. _

_"Police girl…" the man's deep baritone voice was now more rich and alluring now that she was dying than it had been the first time she'd heard it not a minute ago. It called to her like a siren dragging her victims to the depths of the ocean. "Tonight is truly," Her reflection flashed for a moment in the orange tint of his glasses as he fixed his gaze more firmly on the virgin canvas fate had brought before his unworthy feet. " a beautiful night." His fangs shone more clearly as he grins with even more satisfaction. _

_The fingers of his left hand curl around hers offering a single and simple moment of comfort. His right slips beneath her upper back protectively curling around her shoulders thus raising her off the blood soaked ground with less effort than it would have taken him to raise a feather. His orange glasses slip and hang low on the bridge of his nose while his magma tinted irises watch her head fall back helplessly exposing her elegant throat with the utmost interest. The trickle of blood which had stained the left side of her mouth increases as gravity lures out a bit more blood from between her lips. The scent of blood surrounds her like a magnificent tainted halo; her soft sigh her last cry. _

_The vampire leans in, his glasses vanishing from his face exposing his eyes fully to her for the very first time. His lips brush over the corner of her mouth tasting her virgin blood for the very first time. He lingers in his task for no more than a minute, an almost purr like groan escaping passed his lips at the sinful contact, before pulling back and lapping up the remaining rivulet of warm crimson with the tip of his tongue in one clean move. Her cheek was still warm and wet from both her tears as well as the blood despite the rest of her body growing ever colder. The young woman sighs weakly in response to the foreign touch and the vampire chuckles. The closeness accentuates the depth of his voice further as well as the warmth of his breath against the shell of her left ear. _

_Her head turns towards him falling on his right shoulder with the very last bit of her strength; the right side of her throat completely bare. She can move no longer and the beautiful beat of her heart is barely a whisper. It is fading unlike any he'd heard in a long, long time: peacefully and content. There isn't the slightest hint of fear or resentment…just content. He takes just a second more out of her life to reach in and tap into her fading consciousness only to find peace there as well. Though he had shot were without warning, explanation or reason, the teenager and not the seasoned officer he had thought her to be valued the seemingly selfless act of his warm touch so much more than the hatred that should have been rightfully hers under the circumstances. How unlike….a human… _

_"Little one…"_

_She never felt the bite that changed her nor the bloody kiss they shared afterwards as the vampire thought it far more appropriate to indulge himself in the taste of her blood stained lips instead of simply offering her his bleeding wrist in a far more impersonal manner. _

_A fitting exchange for the life offered with such genuine trust. _

_She never even knew his name. She never knew __**what**__ he was. _

_Flashback end_

"No." her answer could not be more truthful. She remembered nothing, nothing at all. Not even ever asking to be told anytime in the past. The fragments the wolf had shown her didn't even scratch the surface. Deep down it was that same kind of trust that had the word 'master' slip past her lips as she embraced the wolf's head on top of the hill. Deep down she knew all she would ever needed too.

"So beautiful draculina…" Vlad whispers hoarsely unable to hide the admiration in his tone. His mouth moved down the elegant column of her throat feeling her Adam's apple bob once as he teasingly brushes over it with his lips. He then goes lower stopping at the small dip at the base of her throat between the clavicles.

"Yet your trust is an anchor without a line helplessly falling into the sea, undeserved. From the moment I tainted your soul."

His hand finds the scar once again, but this time he's all the more careful when tracing its uneven shape. Even so the pain is still a stabbing one causing her to release a whimper of pain and grips the metal plate over his shoulder a bit harder slightly bending the metal.

"Tell me, you have not answered me yet."

"Because of how you touch me."

"Touch holds no meaning little one."

"Touch is everything." She contradicts him despite the discomfort in her chest and her nails piercing the metal over shoulders.

The touch brings forth a painful memory as the simple back room of the chapel is suddenly replaced by a cold dark corridor, deserted and empty and haunted by a mad and irrational voice. Her body trembles and is beyond control, the voice drawing ever closer. The sight of her own death…one she feared unlike the first dealt by his own hand.

And yet the sound of his voice not a moment later eases her mind and the image returns to normal. "Why," he pauses for a seconds worth. "Does this frighten you so?"

_"Ahhh!" she screams as the pain is agonizing and the chain like paper burns her skin raw drawing blood. Struggling against the restrains made it worse and in the end forced Seras to drop to her knees painting in her failed attempt to free herself; she couldn't even phase out of her bonds. _

Then the second image comes forth and it is far more damaging.

_"Gahhh…." That very first drop of virgin blood touching the wooden floor echoes like thunder against a storm filled sky. Blood drips down the sides of her face escaping the corners of her eyes, her body far too heavy and weak to move. She is numb and unable to feel the slightest touch on her body; all she has is his voice and nothing more as even her eyesight starts to fail her._

Seras jerks back finally able to break free of his hold as the pain is far too much to bare and the fear to great to conquer. Her lower back hits the edge of the table and she's forced to brace herself with her hands against it since her knees are far to weak and unstable to hold her weight any longer. The trembling is so much more evident along with the erratic breathing and movement of her chest. The legs of the table screech lightly at being pushed backwards, but the close proximity to the wall allows her to push it by only a few inches. Afraid, so very afraid. She was afraid of seeing the truth at the end of such a memory.

Fortunately, he is there long before her body can react and escape a second imprisonment. He towers over her trapping her joined legs between his and wrapping his right arm around her middle over the coat pulling her body flush against his armor clad body.

"N.." His left hand cups the right side of her face gently silencing her by placing his thumb over her full, pink bottom lip. Her eyes are already glazed over and heavy with deep emotion and unshed tears. Tantalizingly slow, he allows his thumb the subtle pleasure of tracing its length mm away from touching the sharp tips of her fangs hesitantly peering from beneath her upper lip. The sting that soon followed meant nothing, but the blissful look in her eyes at the scent and touch of his blood was more than worth it. The droplet was barely as large as one would receive from a needle and yet ten times more effective. The droplet first smeared the tip of her right fang before tasting her lips like a beautiful red lipstick. The color stood out like a burning flame all alone and surrounded by the purest white marble. Her body reacts to the foreign, yet familiar substance without fail, eyelids heavy and lowering almost all the way down as her head tilts backwards: it was warm and rich against her lips. His head leans down never quite joining their lips together. "What is Nosferatu my draculina?" He asks a second time waiting for her to speak and watching as the expression on her face slowly begins to change.

Seras gasps ever so slightly as a sudden foreign emotion swells within her very soul.

Two fresh crimson tears fall almost immediately as she blinks eyes and the lipstick smearing her lips sings to her mind with a deaf, yet powerful voice. The tremble of her shoulders increases tenfold and her lips part in a soundless sigh as the inexplicable sense of agony she feels takes over her entire body overshadowing the former sense of fear she had felt at the simple touch upon her chest.

"Why?" it is the sole answers she can give and that one simple word leaves her lips in the most heart wrenching tone he'd ever heard; a fresh wave of warm, crimson tears trickles down her cheeks.

"Nothing here is real." His tone, though gentle when speaking to her, made it all the more worse.

"No…" she says almost immediately shaking her head once before her voice fails her and she's obliged to take in a much needed breath. His words could not be real. Not after…not after every once of suffering she'd seen reflected in those large blues eyes time and time again. "_He's real…" _she could barely speak, whisper and plead and her words are so silent he can barely make out their meaning. The 'boy' was **real**. He was real, he had to be. He had to….

"A memory." He insists caressing her right cheek with the back oh his left hand, fingers treading most carefully over her moist skin and the bloody tears shed in his name. Again, so utterly beautiful.

Seras lowers her gaze as if those very words just ripped a hole straight through her already bleeding heart.

"If you would only…" he whispers slowly leaning in until his lips reach the lobe of her right ear and her face is safely nestled into the crook of his neck and buried behind the soft curtain of his long, wavy hair, her nose wandering beneath the fabric of the crimson scarf he wore around his throat. Very gently he pulls her forward until her body molds against his fitting perfectly against him despite the armor separating them while his right hand spreads wide over her lower back keeping her in place.

His scent is a mixture of the rain that came the night before, the metal he wore as well as the blood he'd been exposed to in battle, the latter of which standing out the most to her sensitive nose. Yet in the back of her mind the blood lacked the **spice** of gunpowder. "Let me show you." His sole desire was for her to see the **truth **and then make the decision herself. If only she would agree and ease his own heavy burden.

Her lips part against the side of his throat and her fangs brush against it grazing the corded muscles of his throat with their tips just inches away from sinking in and biting. The tiny, barely visible, red lines are delicately soothed by the gentle touch of her tongue and full lips.

"Do it…" he urges in a hushed and low tone whilst speaking almost breathlessly into her right ear, his breath so very warm and inviting as it seeps through the golden strands framing the side of her face. He can fell her hands move against him, fingers spreading wide over the hard surface of the base of the metal breast plate he wore and then the faulds as they circled it on either side. He arches his neck accommodating her position so that her mouth settles most perfectly over his jugular and her lips encase it several times ready to bite down. She is sampling his flesh willing, yet unwilling to take that extra step at the same time. His skin tenses as the pressure induced by her fangs slowly becomes stronger than its point of resistance and easily pierce his flesh barely sinking with a soft sigh. The very first droplets coat the tips, the amount so small it's as if dipping a needle in an ink pot; just enough to cause a minuscule ripple to form and spread in a growing circle towards the edge of the cup.

The scent of his blood had already filled her nose and now the taste was but a second away form reaching her tongue when a rock comes crashing in through the window shattering the glass entirely and littering the floor with the resulting shards. The rock is then followed by a group of three burning arrows: the first hit table barely missing and hit the draculina's side, while the other two hit the tapestry setting it ablaze.

The moment is thus ruined and Seras draws her fangs back as if woken from a dream.

Vlad on the other growls in anger, fire building within his irises with flames that slowly grow and spread tainting the ocean surrounding the twin black pupils of his eyes. However, he doesn't remove his arm from around her waist. He merely straightens his position pulling his throat away from her wet mouth until his head towers once again over hers. The world he'd forged for her sake, for saving her, was coming undone and the events to soon to follow were slipping out of out reach no longer in his power to change. Life cannot be altered; everything must eventually take its course towards the end of the predestined journey.

Flames fall as the piece of fabric breaks and pieces scatter onto the piles of papers on the floor.

"My Lord!" Ian shouts form behind closed door banging against it several times. "We are under siege my Lord."

"Do not leave this room." Vlad tells her demanding it with a rough and unquestionable tone, yet a caring one nonetheless. He then pulls back for her uncurling his arms from around her middle and letting her support her own weight.

"My Lord!" the door burst open revealing the desperate man who'd called earlier. And due to the position the two were in the draculina was perfectly shielded from his view by the warlord standing in front of her and his back facing the noble.

"They have come." Ian informs with a hardened look in his eyes.

"Of course they have." The warlord replies in return most pleased. They would pay, oh and how they would pay. It would be the very last time something came up between his blood and the Childe sired from it.

"Gather and make ready. Now!" he orders halfway turning his head and body towards the door and the awaiting man.

"Yes Sire." The raven haired man nods doing as told without a second word or glance. And all the while, the sound of running men and voices reached the isolated room. Ian's retreating footsteps soon joined them, yet the door never truly closed behind him.

Hesitant fingers traced upward along the pieces of metal making up the breastplate. The effort to feel something, anything was rendered utterly useless by the heavy layer of cold metal and thick leather padding beneath. It took great concentration to even be able to notice the barely visible up and down motion of his chest as he breathed. Her gaze was cast down and thoroughly concealed with the exception of crimson water still trickling down the sides of her face and dripping from her chin onto the floor. Her teeth were clenched shut and aching and each second made it worse and grow just like the feeling inside of her chest.

_I need…._

Her plea was an unspoken one, yet just as powerful.

"You must wait." Vlad tells her without needing to be informed while reaching for the treasure hidden inside his sleeve which he then proceeded to tie back around her left wrist. "Stay on this floor until it's done. We will talk later."

He then proceeds to turn around, pick up the gauntlets and place them back on his hands.

"No…"the word is hardly whispered at all when brute force is suddenly and unexpectedly exerted upon his upper back and shoulder pushing him forward to the point of stumbling. Yet it never happens and instead he's somehow turned around completely and crashing into the inexplicably closed door of the room rather hardly. His armor clings loudly subsequent of the blow and fangs suddenly pierce his flesh as Seras's body molds against his and both her arms hold his head and neck in a tight and unbreakable hold which only gets stronger the more she feeds. Her voice is loud in his left ear pants and sighs drinking noticing his head tilt upward without a word in utter silence. He neither says nor does anything to stop or prevent her actions. His eyelids drop shut with two deep breaths before eventually grabbing hold of her upper arms and exerting the smallest amount of pressure on her. It is, surprisingly, enough to make her let go without a fight. Blood drips from her mouth as her breath caresses the moist patch of skin and still flowing rivulets of fresh, warm crimson seeping out of the twin round holes in the side of his throat.

Seras leans back in immediately after placing her open mouth back over the bleeding wound in a soft and slow sucking motion while the tip of her tongue soothed the bites stopping the blood flow.

"Tonight…" he whispers looking down only to meet her already waiting gaze. "You may have your fill tonight." He brings her chin up with his right hand watching as the remaining crimson trickles from her flesh onto the metal and leather of the gauntlet loosing itself in the process and staining the latter.

"I saw…"

"Tonight." He cuts her off with a serious tone and the slight narrowing of his blue eyes, a grin forming on his face and the promise of **more**.

"I can't breath." She tells him taking his right wrist from her face without warming and squeezing so hard she bends a good portion of the metal. "Show me now. I can't…"

"You are…."

"Show me!" she screams and all of a sudden dozens of shadows fill the room emerging from the soles of her boots and spreading out over the wooden floor like ripples growing on a disturbed patch of water. Vein like tendrils also appeared over the left side of her face trailing and curling upward along the column of her throat, jaw bone and then cheek before encircling her eye and temple as her left arm started to change and her left iris began to darken in a manner he'd only seen in the 'false' universe he'd helped forge over two years ago in the battle against the witch's boy, Quincy.

"Seras listen to me."

"No!" she screams a second anew and this time the tendrils destroy the floor as they strike it and rake deep long cuts into the wooden boards before then turning their attention towards the walls themselves. The stone shakes from the impact and deep scars are left there as well.

Vlad's hands quickly reach out grabbing hold of either side of the draculina's face and tilting it upward as he leaned down hovering over her and capturing her gaze. Her eyes were lost and looking at him as though he wasn't even there, as though he were a simple ghost and figment of her imagination.

"Show me…show me….show me….show…" the words just went on and on in the form of a soft and hard to hear whisper of a tone barely there at all.

"Seras!" he calls demanding her immediate attention, but nothing happens as she remains just as still and motionless, uttering the same phrase yet again. "I cannot." He tells her releasing her face in favor of her shoulders. He shakes her and still she remains unresponsive. By now the room was filling with even more smoke and fire, the flames massive and burning hot. "The word cannot be changed draculina. I can't chance it. It can't be done Seras!" he shouts in the end finally getting a response: the chanting came to a halt. "It has been done already too many times."

"Make it stop…" she pleads and for a second only recognition returns to her glazed eyes before disappearing once she is denied her request once more. Her shoulders began to tremble and the paleness of her skin heightened to a sickly shade as though she were about to become incredibly sick.

"You must keep the blood Seras." His grip tightens as he not only shakes her a second time, but turns them around so that her back is pressed against the body of the door instead of his. His arms wrap around her encircling her back protectively and pulling her flush against him noticing her head tilting back almost all the way before he's able to hold her up and make it so that her head falls close to his left shoulder instead.

The window was far too small to circulate the large quantity of black smoke and the small space beneath the door proved inadequate as well. The noise outside was getting louder. Their sole salvation came, though quite ironic, from the inky black tendril themselves swallowing everything they touched.

Blood dripped over his left upper arm as Seras's lips parted in a loud, easy to hear sigh as the majority of her senses shut down and she began feeling heavy and numb. He should not have given any blood at all.

She was breaking the room in two: the floorboard creaking and the walls and ceiling cracking. The sound of her pounding heartbeat filled her ears like drums on a battlefield; the pain unbearable. Had she even though of anything mere moments ago? Had they conversed or said anything at all? It was so hard to remember…

Where? Where was she?

Why was the room on fire? Why was he holding her so tightly?

What blood?

"I cannot wage war with you like this."

What on earth was he talking about? She could barely see the corner of his mouth move let alone understand anything he was saying at that point. "If you so wish it…." He eventually whispers quickly understanding the situation he had been place in and the urgency it represented. "But know that the pain wont' stop. It will get worse." His grip tightened while leaning in until he was able to whisper directly into her ear.

"We all die by the sword…."

The words blurred fading from grasp as the unexpected and unexplained heavy scent of blood took over her mind distracted her from everything and everyone, her own self included, Thus, before anything more could happen, before his words could find and make proper sense inside the shambles of her broken mind, an unseen blade struck piercing her right side without stopping until it came out of her chest just beneath her heart. Time slowed down, slow and agonizing, as the sharp metal cut through her flesh; her back arched and her irises widened in shock. Her body became trapped between that of the two fighting men bent on killing each other; the two men she didn't see coming. Vlad's comforting and protective embrace was gone and in its place a cold and unforgiving blade was running through her as though she were a simple piece of meat. A man was behind her, a shadow, a blur…what did it matter any longer? He still held the sword which pierced her lower back at an upward angle so that it came out of the chest instead of her abdomen. And in front of her, somewhere there in front of her, the same blue eyes and dark charcoal hair like a river of pure ink. He was in the process of getting back to his feet from his kneeled position, sword at the ready.

His strike come regardless of the blade coming his way, regardless of the set of crimson eyes boring into his soul as her sole lifeline and regardless…the position she had forced his hand to take.

Death held his line from the tip of a sword and the sharp edge of an unforgiving blade.

**We all die by the sword….**

**We will all, one day, die by the sword…**

It was too late to stop, the momentum of his movement pushing him forward. He moved and metal grazed metal with both blades dripping blood in the end. Vlad's narrowed blue eyes starred his opponent down as the latter tilted his head back and then fell to his knees behind Seras; a deep gash in the front of his throat where the warlord's blade had hit him impaling him on the very metal of the sword. He gurgled chocking on the rapid flow of blood filling his trachea and lungs. And as he fell he pulled the sword with him, but the latter did not escape its owner's grip so easily. Instead the blade merely emerged from the man's body one cm at a time until its entire length was left hanging in mid air whilst coated in a heavy layer of freshly spilled warm blood that dripped from the tip and the sides of the blade.

As for the fallen one's own sword, it too fell much like the man once wilding it. Both fell and he lost consciousness, his armor clinging loudly as he touched the ground lifeless, bloody and without a single breath more.

Seras's body went numb and she remained perfectly still until the moment her ears picked up on the sole sound of the man dying and hitting the ground.

**Death and the sword found her at last.**

Her eyelids blink once as she finds her body entirely supported by that of the warlord: his left arm wrapped around her waist just under the hilt of the sword and his right leg in between hers from when he'd moved forward and had pulled her to him to get as little space between himself and his intended victim as possible even if it meant still keeping her in the middle of it all. And though it would seem cruel on his behalf to do so he used both the blade still deeply embedded into her body as well as the man's grip and control over it to hide the true nature of his intent and the way he would strike till the very last moment. The original motion would have hit form below, but having Seras in the way meant a different tactic which he did not hesitate to construct and use in the short span of a fraction of a second.

Thus their bodies held no space between them despite the visible tip of the blade sticking out of her chest. Though he held no serious injury himself the blade still succeeded in moving beneath one of the oblong plates of the breastplate he wore and expose the underside it over his left flank. The bent metal revealed a small portion of the underlining jacket and even managed to cut through it as he voluntarily pushed himself into its path in order to further increase the chance of a successful blow. His long raven hair fell over his right shoulder mimicking his cape as both had been inclined to do so due to the heightened inertia of his movement.

Seras went into shock as soon as the blade touched her and she could do no more than stare blankly ahead. She barely felt the sting of the metal as it cut through her body, and yet it seemed as though her body recognized the motion at a far more powerful and intimate level than normally. It left her utterly paralyzed and at the mercy of those around her. Heart wrenching pain shot though her heart without hesitation despite the organ not been touched.

"One day, you'll forgive…" Vlad's deep baritone held no meaning as he spoke, his voice falling on deaf ears and gaze lost in the distance despite their eyes having locked onto each other.

The room too was gone now that cold air somehow found a way to reach the loose strands of her hair and caress them in a soothing manner as though taking responsibility for the warlord's actions against her and promising better things soon to come.

A screech, however, pierced through the air breaking the moment and before either one could understand what was happening an arrow came out of nowhere hitting him in that same exposed spot the tip of the blade had provided. Undeterred by the metal plates of the armor and the cut piece of leather that would have protected him, the arrow sank in deep at a downward and sideways angle causing him to grimace and take a sharp intake of breath. More and more foreign soldiers appeared during the battle and the few within the monastery's courtyard were easily overwhelmed.

"My Lord!" Ian cried witnessing the event. He was engaged in battle and as such had no real means in aiding his master.

The warlord bent over as the arrow struck him, yet he still held his ground determined not to let such an insignificant wound bring him down. His blue eyes abandon Seras's and so, for those few seconds that they're apart, he fails to see the sudden and inexplicable shift in color they make from crimson to pitch black. Then, without warning, she pushes against the soil beneath her feet and she disappears from his embrace with a snarl and a trail of red and black: black from her shadows and red from the blood of the living. More than three corpses litter the ground by the time he succeeds in turning around and more are to follow. Seras's vampiric speed makes it difficult for his eye to follow her and all anyone is able to see is a black blur trailed by gold and mostly red. Limbs were ripped, necks broken and bitten as flesh was savagely ripped by her fangs. Some of the bodies flew crashing into trees while others suffered the fate of her phantom left arm which morphed into a black mass of crimson and black that devoured them. The landscape was painted red in blood, horses and men alike screamed and neighed in fear as one by one the all fell pray to her madness.

Only one of Vlad's group, with the exception of those still trapped within the church his nephew included, survived the onslaught, both his eyes and very soul petrified by the horror and savagery of one little girl he'd thought to be no threat at all until that very moment. _'She's no threat to me'_, they were his master's words and had been time and time again. And yet…a massacre….

"Move!" He's unable to react to his master's touch and touch until the latter forcefully grabs him by the back of his neck shaking him and pulling him to his feet.

The ambush had seemed perfect in the beginning as the simple foot soldiers were also joined by a group of riders and their horses that surrounded the entire area, yet all perfectly laid out plans failed the moment a bloodthirsty vampire became their opponent.

"Seras!" Vlad shouts with all his might and it sounds just as strong and powerful as her own voice screaming alongside those trapped inside her mind.

"Ahhh! Her mind is in shambles and her cry earth shattering with the promise of death as her powers flare consuming the ground beneath her feet. The soil turns dark with her shadows as she falls to her knees holding her head between her hands and the ground the splits apart as the darkness explodes into a massive shockwave shattering everything in its pat. One after another, the darkness spread into upward taking bodies with it as though they were poles meant to connect the earth and sky. The sky turns black and for a moment there is silence. Black turns to red and rain, just as warm and red as the blood itself, falls from the sky.

The elder noble is too stunned to move, mangled bodies of beasts and men alike hovering impaled on pitch black posts, the ground and grass red in blood. More screams fill the air as the young page who'd finally managed to break the door open and join the fight was on his knees screaming in utter shock and terror, his sword forgotten by his side. He like his uncle and master was also covered in a thick layer of still warm blood. He involuntarily moves backwards, crawling backwards far too terrified to take his eyes off the massacre before him, but he barely succeeds in taking a few cm before his back hits yet another pole. The sudden impact urges him to look up and the sight is even more gruesome: he stares into the disfigured and broken face of a horse, the jawbone broken and crooked, the skull and spine almost severed form another and the cervical spine completely out in the open instead of covered by muscles and flesh. Pieces of meat hung from the exposed vertebra and its tongue stuck out of its mouth just as a good portion of its intestines did from its slid open abdomen. The poor creature had been impaled on three different polls in three different parts: the first in the neck thus breaking his spine, the second was in his chest and the third in his abdomen. Blood trickled over and dripped from the poor creature's body, head and mouth with one of the drops hits the young man directly in the middle of his forehead.

"Ahhh! His voice fills the world with dread and utter panic, the image forever burned inside his mind. Once more he attempts to move, but everywhere he turned the almost the same image was there to haunt him. "

"Be silent!" The warlord demands in a harsh and brutal tone, but his words reach nothing but deaf ears as the shock is far too great. Paul's body became so heavy he could barely move and a cold sweat took over him as his ears lost their power to properly perceive sound. His heart was pounding so hard against his chest that due to the shock he'd suffered it closely resembled that of a metal fist pounding on an equally sturdy metal door in sheer frustration and desperation. His head moved from one side to the other, yet each direction was as bad as the first; his voice eventually failed him, his throat raw and sore from the sudden effort.

"I said be silent!" Vlad demands once more as he cradles Seras's limb body in his arms holding her bridal style finally able to pick her up the blood soaked ground from where she'd fallen after exerting and releasing of all of that power. Her long golden hair still touched the blood soaked ground with its tips while the sword which had hurt her lay before them with the entire length of the blade coated in her blood as though it were its rightful seethe. Her left limb was a shadowy mess of a swirling black and red mass that remained stationary by the warlord's feet before spreading over the surface of the solid ground swallowing up everything in its path.

The young man screamed in sheer horror, his voice already broken but strong from the fear taking over. His voice was lost much like the lives of those all around him suspended in a graveyard halfway between heaven and earth. The black swallowed the sun a second time and by the time the light of day would return, none would truly remember what had happened.

_Flashback_

_"This way, move it."_

_The sound of footsteps reverberated as dark, heavy combat boots trampled over a wooden floor. There was no light with the exception of that belonging to the soldiers flashlights. They were running for their lives._

_"If anyone can hear me pick up damn it! It's a trap!" the captain shouted in his communicator with no luck at contacting those on the other side. He was down to his last six men in an abandoned factory somewhere near the outskirts of London; the mission should have been relatively simple and yet, his men had started disappearing one after another. Iscariot had failed to show as agreed and the mission had thus become a massacre within just a few minutest of their arrival._

_"Someone answer me now!" the line was still dead with the exception of constant static. "God damn it! Is someone there?"_

_"__**Is someone there?**__" an eerie, mocking male voice followed by deeply laughter eventually answered his call._

_"Don't you fuck with me!" the captain shouted in the walky-talky before throwing it to the ground and stomping it in anger until he was certain the small device was dead._

_"Get moving." He then orders him men. "Along the corridor, move." _

_"__**Are you certain?**__" the same voice he'd hear over the station echoed along the length of the corridor in question still laughing that same cruel and insane laugh. _

_"__**This way? No that. Where are we**__?"_

_Its laughter continued the more fear it inspired into the hearts of the seasoned soldiers._

_"Get moving! Go!" the captain ordered anew pushing the closes man to him forward. Adrenalin was rushing through all their bodies at great speed as the situation was taking a turn for the worse because of their inability to locate the source of the mysterious voice. _

_**"I wouldn't..."**_

_**"We could be here…there…"**_

_**"Or maybe here!"**_

_The sudden shout accompanying the eerie voice culminated with the door behind them bursting open and causing a massive panic amongst the soldiers who immediately started firing._

_"Stop shooting! Cease fire!" the captain shouted, but his words held no more power over the frightened men. A shower of bullets rained over the open door and hallway until none were left in their guns. _

_"You idiots I told you…"_

_Laughter filled the halls anew and this time a lone figure materialized from the shadows. It wore a long black coat and hood which covered it form head to tow obscuring the soldiers view. The figure cast a long and unnatural shadow behind it, a shadow which seemed to move on its own as well as the maniacal grin plastered over what they could define as the figure's face. And as it grin they saw something approach, a severed head that continued to bleed. The eerie laughter turned into a deep chuckle and soon afterwards the figure took one step forward, then another and another while pulling out a long sword from behind its back._

_"Reload! Reload!" the captain shouted, but it was already far too late. One managed to accomplish the task and fire three times, but he hit nothing but thin air. The sound of the screams, bullets and terror inducing laughter filled the empty halls. The flashlights fell to the ground, the lenses shattering as they hit the hard surface, and flickered several times before going out completely._

_The halls became eerily silent. _

_"Whose there?" a young woman asks out loud whilst stepping into the light of the moon provided by a broken window. The light golden hair shines in the silver light as she walks on stepping on broken glass. She's two stories above the massacre currently taking place and yet her acute hearing picks up on the eerie sound of maniacal laughter, the cries and gunshots…the scent of freshly spilled blood coating the walls in pure fear. Gun in hand she keeps walking forward allowing her senses to flare and reach out all around her. _

_/Seras./ Alucard calls though their shared link, a hint of concern lingering almost undistinguishable in the depth of his tone. /Come to me little one./_

_/Master? Is something wrong?/_

_The sudden use of the term 'little one' on a mission unnerved her. Experience and time taught her the many different variables, the many shades of grey, hidden in her master's voice. They were miles apart, the vampire still back at the Hellsing manor, as Integra had considered it unnecessary for both undead to participate and yet something had disturbed her master's meditation that night as he quietly sat in his chair one leg elegantly crossed over the other and a wineglass in his right hand. /Master?/_

_A floorboard creaked somewhere behind her diverting the draculina's attention towards the partially open door to her left. The room she was in was a large office, had been at the time, missing it's front door so that the room itself communicated with the long and dark hallway stretching from it in the distance. But then, at the very end of said hallway, Seras's eyes caught a mere glimpse of a moving figure concealed in the pitch black darkness. _

_Leaving all prior thoughts about her master behind her Seras takes just one step forward when his voice returned with a much harsher tone this time._

_/Stop./ he whispers without shouting, but his voice remains commanding. He stops her before she can get to the threshold and just then another squeaking floorboard comes to life. _

_Whilst sitting in his chair enjoying a fresh cup of warm crimson, eyes closed and stirring his glass in a lazy, circular fashion, his eyelids rose as if from a deep sleep allowing the magma of his irises to shine though the black curtain of his bangs. He had not felt the need to follow his draculina and watch over her as many times before in the past when he'd been bored, but then something called him out of his near slumbering state; a sixth sense if you will. At first he only called out of sheer curiosity, but the sudden spike in fear he felt amplified that mere curiosity into something more. His grip on the fragile glass increased to the point of breaking the moment he heard that floorboard creek a second time and saw the same hidden figure through her mind's eye._

_"Stop." His voice echoes in the emptiness of his room. His body evaporates into thin black mist leaving nothing but shards of glass and a few droplets of blood in his place._

_"Master?" Seras whispers as a cold chill runs down her spine. For a moment she hears what appears to be a voice brushing against her earlobe, grazing her skin, and she turns around as fast as lightning firing at will behind her; all three shots miss the target that was never there. _

_"Vampire against vampire?" a male voice unlike her master's spoke up. Madness lingered within it and not the sort she was used to. "Hello precious little vampire." Laughter filled the halls as a hand suddenly grabs hold of her throat and crushes her back against the neared wall denting it. "Traitorous blood."_

_Seras's body went limp without warning as her eyes locked onto those of the male vampire standing leaning into her face; his hood still up with strands of his hair dripping down his forehead. Her crimson pupils could not help but widen in fear as the ghost like feel of his breath touched her skin and lips and her irises reflected the madness overflowing from his. Then, as she felt her mind going numb with his intrusion, he pulled back as if stung and released her backing up with almost the same speed he'd made use of when attacking her. _

_The overwhelming presence of her master filled her senses just as his shadows filled the hall appearing between the two vampires, eyes ablaze and glasses and hat missing. Laughter filled the hall as the foreign vampire took another step back, delight written all over his hidden face._

_"Oh she's yours? So interesting…"he then purrs moving forward despite the cold and calculated look Alucard was giving him. He then peers around the vampire's left arm grinning most pleased. "Such a fascinating little creature…"_

_His eyes look the Childe over rejoicing in the light tremble of her body his actions had caused earlier before easily slipping into her mind yet again. _

_Seras turned her head as he master appeared and the strange vampire started speaking. She saw him approach anew; his head leaning forward passed her master's body, and just watch her with that otherworldly look in his crimson eyes. Traces of his voice began whispering inside her mind again, his presence slowly suffocating her as the grin on his face kept growing in satisfaction. Surprisingly though, Seras fights back and her anger catches the vampire by surprise. She puts an end to it by shoving him out of her mind shouting before Alucard even has the chance to intervene on her behalf._

_"Stay __**out**__!" she growls taking one step forward towards him despite the still visible tremble in her knees. Her claws extend ripping through the fabric of her brown gloves and scratching the wall she was leaning against with her left hand; her crimson eyes glowed shining brightly against the darkness as her own powers flared and shadows began dancing beneath her feet._

_The vampire's laughter, more like a deep chuckle, filled the hallway once more as he stepped back still grinning and still looking her over. "Very…__**strange**__…."_

_"There is nothing strange about her." Alucard says in a low and indifferent tone. _

_"Of course not…"the vampire can't bring himself to stop laughing. He continues to speak and pace alongside the width of the hall from one side to the other whilst bringing his hands up in front of his chest and rubbing his hands together. "No, no…nothing at all…oh…" a though suddenly hits him causing the vampire to spot his pacing and turn around and face the red clad one. "Oh I see…it is even more…"_

_"Why are you here M…" though Seras cannot hear her master call the strange vampire by his name, the latter continues to chuckle lost in his own thoughts._

_"__**Interesting**__….yes I can see now…" his voice takes on an unnaturally low whisper before his sentences finally come to an end and his head suddenly jerks upward pushing the rim of the hood back just a little revealing a bit more of the bridge of his nose and pale skin. _

_"They are coming again." He says feeling the movement taking place a few stories beneath them. "This will not do. I __**despise**__ being interrupted. It is so very rude…"_

_"What have you done here…__**vampire**__?" Alucard asks, but the manner in which he utters the word vampire stuns the draculina a little: it is questioning and intriguing, curious without being overwhelming in its desire to know and yet there was also a hint of genuine concern. _

_"I have not decided…"_

_His thoughts were interrupted by the loud banging sound of a door being thrown open somewhere beneath them. "I must still," he pauses. "Decide." _

_Shadows formed beneath his feet causing the flaps of his black cloak to sway with their movement. "Yes…I must still…decide…"_

_Gunfire shots echoed louder and louder and the vampire disappeared. Seras's knees almost buckle under her as the weight of his presence evaporates forcing her to sink her claws into the wall for support. Her eyelids drop as she forces her body to obey and stand her ground. Her concentration is so strong that Alucard's sudden touch startles her and her knees end up failing her. She falls, but his right arm is already there to hold her up by wrapping itself around her small waist. Her head falls onto his shoulder, eyelids dropping and left cheek brushing against the soft fabric of his clothing beneath the crimson leather coat. _

_For a moment longer nothing happens, but then she feels his head drop and his mouth latch onto the right side of her throat. _

_"Good girl Seras…" he purrs as if ready to bite down. His lips brush her skin and his fangs lengthens just a little, yet enough to teasingly graze her flesh with the promise of something more. He draws back, his breath surprisingly warm on her skin and his arm so tight around her body she can feel each individual muscle move despite the layers of clothing separating them. _

_"Leave here little one."_

_He whispers, but the marvelous sound of his voice is overshadowed by the same sinister laughter as before as well as the agonizing cries of his victims._

_Alucard pulls back, but as his arm slips from around her middle she takes hold of his upper arm stopping him. _

_"Master?"_

_The vampire studies her large crimson eyes for a moment then brings his hand up to her face brushing her left cheek with the back of his fingers and dislodging some of the wilder strands of her strawberry blond hair from their place. _

_"Obey your master Seras." _

_With those words he too vanishes confident she would do as told. If only he had truly made sure she'd left._

_Now alone, the corridor did not seem as intimidating as before. Master was there, somewhere, and that always gave an extra sense of protection she'd always missed in those 30 years __**alone**__. His strong aura had become an invisible lifeline she was no longer afraid to use or exploit just to have that extra measure of belonging. No matter what could or would happen, master would always be there…in the end._

_The first few steps were the hardest to make as her knees still felt weak and her body exhausted attempting to heal itself. _

_Using her left hand to lean against the wall she slowly walked back to the broken down office, her thoughts still lingering on the new black clad vampire. She'd never felt anything that powerful since her master. The two felt similar and yet it was as if the stranger was a completely out of control version of her master._

_Her thoughts were so far away she missed the sudden appearance of a second figure in the darkness of the room still a few feet in front of her. The chuckling startled her causing her to immediately raise her gun in front of her in a defensive manner and point it with deadly accuracy despite the weakness still lingering in her limbs._

_Little by little the chuckling increased until the distinct tone of a female's voice came forth. And with Seras was able to immediately able to identify the source of that particular laughter._

_The figure steped out of the darkness, a long grey coat swishing with each step and twin bayonets glistening in the light of the windows littering the hall. Red liquid coats the blades dripping onto the old wooden floor with each taken step while the figure's face continues to remain hidden. The sole indicator was the partially visible white straps covering the lower half of its face._

_"Seras Victoria." The voice, after so many years of conflict, was unmistakable. The mangled words and difficult speech pattern..._

_"Iscariot dog." Seras hisses smirking lowering her gun just a little. "Heinkel Wolfe."_

_"Ashes to ashes, tonight you fall."_

_"Will I?"_

_"You already have."_

_The ground beneath her feet lit up glowing with bright, yellow symbols and markings._

_/Seras run!/_

_Never before had her master urged her to abandon a fight especially when dealing himself with a vampire at the same time, but the urgency of his words prompted her to obey at a deep and instinctual level. She bolted from the stop attempting to only to crash into the already erected barrier blocking the doorway burning the skin of her forearms and right cheek. _

_"You will not escape." Heinkel chuckled bringing her right hand up to her face revealing a glowing piece of paper that further illuminated her features and brought out the distinct green of her eyes and the white of her bandages. Many more matching pages circled the young vampire scraping against her skin before coiling around her arms and length engulfing them entirely._

_"Ahhh!" she screams as the pain is agonizing and the chain like paper burns her skin raw drawing blood. Struggling against the restrains made it worse and in the end forced Seras to drop to her knees painting in her failed attempt to free herself; she couldn't even phase out of her bonds. She was already far too tired and drained of vital energy from that vampire attacking her in a form she'd never encountered before in her few short decades of her life._

_"Struggle all you will, you cannot break these bonds." _

_"But I can."_

_The dark tone was like a beacon of light in the midst of a powerful storm and Seras struggled to raise her head and look upon the distant figure of her master. His steps reverberated in the empty hall despite the hissing sound his boots made when coming in contact with the glowing floor and holly symbols. The Casull hung at his side moving as one with his right hand as the tell tale sigh of blood coated a portion of his clothing; the majority had already been absorbed while the rest was enduring the same treatment. The one thing that was amiss though, was the strange scent the blood he carried. It was old and rich, but unlike any her nose had ever been exposed to. It was if she could smell and not just taste the __**madness**__ within. Her master had not been gone for long and it seemed his encounter with the strange vampire had been resumed to more than a few words and intimidating glances. _

_"So the master comes for his pet." Heinkel snickers turning away from the Childe to face her Shire. Both titans take equal steps, but it's only a short time before their weapons clash against each other: the Casull and the blessed bayonet._

_Metal hits metal as the two dance around each other._

_"You are not worth my time." Alucard smirks knowing his words would only infuriate his opponent. As good as she was, Henkel was not, nor would she ever be, Alexander Anderson. And yet the woman only smirks back at the statement before leaping backwards and snapping her fingers together._

_"Nor am I supposed to be."_

_The hall is stormed by ghoul after ghoul as the holly barrier forces them into the relative small confinement of the hall. The creatures turned by the other vampire and not yet disposed off by Iscariot would prove their worth in a different situation than merely becoming ash and blood on the walls. Alucard shoots without hesitation, but Heinkel is already gone, a ghost in the wind, as she swiftly ducks behind the ghouls after avoiding each and every bullet with ease. Each shoot becomes even less accurate as a title wave of blessed paper rises from the floor engulfing the space between each ghoul._

_"I would expect less cowardice from the Iscariot Organization. Or are you such fools now that Anderson is gone?"_

_Silence greeted him at first, moans from the dying ghouls and the sound of their ash distributing itself along the length of the floor. Then…_

_"Gahhh…." The sudden gasp makes his finger hesitate on the trigger._

_That very first drop of virgin blood touching the wooden floor echoes like thunder against a storm filled sky._

_"The fool is you."_

_The pages suddenly part in two waves taking out the remaining ghouls; all that remain are the vampire, the vampire hunter and the dying virgin girl whose chest and heart had been run through by the same bayonet Heinkel had displayed earlier. The latter stood with her back to the ancient vampire and her right hand on the handle of the bayonet she'd just used to pierce Seras's heart._

_"There are two of you after all." Ever so slowly as if taunting him further she turns around until she's able to see him through the corner of her right eye._

_Laughing the floor glowed anew and the seals binding Seras vanished freeing her body and allowing it to fall backwards; the blade was deeply embedded, almost all the way through her undead heart. Burn marks marred her arms and legs without receding: the blisters fading many and the red and inflamed skin not turning pale and healthy once more._

_"I will relish our next encounter you filthy dog." Pages surrounded her before Alucard could make a move, but even if it were possible for him to take her out, he would not have gone after her had she not dared to make a second attempt on his fledgling._

_"Seras…" the draculina's eyes barely opened acknowledging his call as he bent over her fallen frame wrapping his right arm around her middle and the left around her shoulders. Blood drips down the sides of her face escaping the corners of her eyes, her body far too heavy and weak to move. She is numb and unable to feel the slightest touch on her body; all she has is his voice and that too fails her just as her eyes start to close a second later._

_The darkness had never been more inviting; perhaps only that one time when she died._

_Flashback end _

The last thing Seras felt was falling. She was aware of a distant sound, a low pitched voice, but hardly audible due to the increasing ringing inside her ears.

Someone was holding her and someone was calling her name.

.

.

.

Someone was screaming? But she couldn't say who.

_To be continued…_

Till next time and I'm really hoping for a small review, just tell me what you think.

Bye.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 15**

So, new chapter's up. I stood up all night last night editing it so I hope I got all the kinks out of it. This will be my first attempt a real lemon, hopefully it turned out well. also this is the last chapter to take place inside Alucard's memories and I'll be waking Seras up in the next one. Also this chapter reveals the truth about Seras's encounter with Iscariot and how she was wounded.

With all that, enjoy.

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 15**

The last thing Seras felt was falling. She was aware of a distant sound, a low pitched voice, but hardly audible due to the increasing ringing inside her ears.

_Someone was screaming? She couldn't say who. _

_Now it was dark, too dark; dark and getting colder, quieter. _

_The taste of blood hung heavily in her mouth. Was it hers?_

She remembered hearing a scream and a voice shouting her name; a face contorted in pain.

Flashback

"_Ser….a…s…Se….rs…." He kept calling. What did he want? What?_

"_Seras…."_

_What?_

"_Seras!" Alucard screamed loud enough for her to hear and open her eyes. He was on his knees in a pool of still earm blood with the soaking liquid seeping into his pants at a fast pace._

"_Haaahhh…." The draculina gasped coughing up a large amount of blood. Her head ilted backwards and seeing as was utterly unable to function properly, it hung there loosely with crimson liquid pouring down her chin and cheekbones like water from a faucet. It accompanied the pure crimson tears running from her eyes. She had no strength; none whatsoever, not even enough to move a finger. Her arms lay limb by her sides; her eyes were both glazed over and her vision impaired by the free flowing crimson tears leaking from their corners. She could barely make out her surroundings let alone focus on the distraught look written all over her master's face. And even that was done with incredible effort when he offered her assistance. His left arm was securely wrapped around her shoulders, but he used his other to offer her the needed support along with his left knee which he quickly raised and bent at a 90 degree angle and held her back in place. His clothes bared the marks of a recent fight, gunpowder and burns, yet their most distinguished feature was the fresh blood dripping from his sleeves, staining both his white shirt and black jacket. The blood was hers._

"_Seras look at me."_

_the long, silver and blessed sword, the runes upon its handle still glowing a bright yellow, stuck out from the middle of her chest. It had pierced her heart. _

"_Seras?" _

Flashback end

_Seras…_

_Seras…._

_Seras…._

The sound of her name grew each time she heard it being called.

"Seras!"

Crimson eyes snapp open at the last and final call only to close anew in the subsequent violent coughing fit that followed. Blood came out of her mouth and her irises were no longer black in color. She was on a simple bed in a medium sized room illuminated by only two candle sticks: one on a small makeshift stand directly next to the bed and the other on a real table in the opposite corner of the room with two chairs next to it. A plain cloth divider separated the part of the chamber holding the bed from the rest of its interior and the door a few feet away. A long steel sword, the blade perfectly clean, with a golden colored handle leaned against the table's edge while several pieces of amour littered its surface: the breastplate, gauntlets.

_Flashback_

_A door slammed with force into the wall behind it as the armor clad raven haired man kicked it open before stepping inside at a fast pace while carrying an unconscious golden haired woman whose front was drenched in blood. Her head was tilted backwards appearing completely lifeless in his embrace. Liquid crimson dripped of his armor as if to match her as he strolled across the room until he found the bed in the corner and set her down on top of it. The blade was no longer inside of her, yet the wound it had inflicted remained as he ripped her vest and shirt open. The wound was bleeding heavily and there was no sign of a beating heart or any involuntary breaths to move her chest. She was and looked, for a better word, deadly pale and dead._

_Of all the figures left standing after the massacre she'd orchestrated, he was the sole one still awake and aware of all that had happened. Everyone else was out cold and only a few still alive. They would not be waking soon, the priests especially, which left him to tent to horrid wound: hers as well as his. The tip of the arrow was deeply embedded into his side and cutting more into him with each move, breaths especially._

_There was nothing more he could do, he'd already altered far to much of his own past and memory to accommodate not only her presence within, but also keep them both alive._

_And time was up._

_Flashback end_

Her chest felt so heavy it was as if a great weight rested upon it. There was a simple bandage around it hiding whatever trace the sword had done to her skin, but it was mostly soaked through and slightly staining the grey sheet covering her.

A hand grabbed her wrist calling her name yet again, but she fought against it. She couldn't take a normal breath of air because of the coughing and the blood and as such that same hand became an unwanted obstacle in her fight to overcome the shock, the fear and the confusion.

She turns on her right side burying her face in the pillow and her own hair smearing both with the remains of the crimson staining her lips; every muscle in her body was shaking just as badly as her coughs.

"Seras…" another arm moved under her shoulders turning her around until her forehead touched a man's chest while the one grasp her hand released her wrist and instead took on her waist on the left side raising her up in the process. "Seras." The force of his tone proved effective and, as he shook her lightly increasing his hold at the same time, her eyes reopened and she breathed in deeply as if starving for air. Her fangs protruded grazing both her lips as well as his flesh over his left biceps before her head was completely lifted and secured underneath his chin giving her body the support it needed. Each breath was a godsend. Black strands caught her attention as they fell in front of her face and over the man's broad shoulders, but then his right hand replaced them as it gently tucked some of her own golden hair behind her left ear revealing a part of her face. Seras closes her eyes relishing in the sense of comfort such a simple act implied so softly and so quickly. It was a touch her body knew and trusted completely. Slowly her body relaxed and the tension in her muscles receded.

Unfortunately, just as she was about to offer herself fully to the sweet sensation, another one took its place forcing her to curl against him seeking his protection above all else. Both her arm were trapped between them with the right grasping the piece of bandage wrapped around her chest while the left brushed against the bandage tied around his waist and shoulder. Her lips parted in a silent scream as her body suddenly tensed remembering…._the pain_.

"There was no other way." He tells her increasing his grip, pulling further into his chest. "You wished to be shown. Pain in the best way...for you to understand."

"Master it hurts." Her voice was broken and weak and she felt utterly empty and drained. It was becoming harder and harder to breath when just a moment ago it had been her most precious commodity.

"I know."

"I can't breath."

"You aren't supposed too. You're dead."

_Alucard dropped to his knees in the middle of Integra's office carrying his injured fledgling in his arms._

"No." the image was painful to watch and she shied away from it turning her head and burying it further into the crook of his throat; her breath scorching against his flesh. Unfortunately, the image never faded.

"You died little one."

"Master…"

"You died." He pushes on. His right hand suddenly cups the left side of her face in his large palm pushing her away from him at the same time. He doesn't scream or shout at her, but his tone darkness nonetheless to get her attention. Even so, the moment he repeats the phrase 'You died' he does so with the gentleness of a lover's caress lost in the wind and the certainty of a fact proven true beyond reasonable doubt. All the while he's gazing deeply into her ruby orbs with their faces so little apart from touching. The truth of the night he's hidden for so long shown as bright as a falling star in the molten azure pools of his eyes.

Flashback

"_Alucard….Alucard!" Integra shouts his name from behind her desk as the shock of her servant storming in her office though the door and drenched in blood left her system. It had only been a few seconds, maybe half a minute, till most of the left side corner of her office floor was soaked in crimson. Her paperwork lay discarded on the desk, some even falling to the floor, she could care less. As for the vampire himself, he wasn't listening nor did he pay attention to her. He did not let his sight wander from the dying girl's face._

"_It's alright, shhhh." His deep voice came like a shooting embrace. Perhaps one even more welcome than his touch upon her left cheek now that death was hovering above her head. "I'm here."_

_What good did that do? What good was 'here' when you didn't know where 'here' was? When you were numb, wet and cold? When you felt nothing at all, not even your thoughts? When you did not know who was 'there' with you?_

"_Alucard!" Integra was frantic as she knelt by his side._

"_Don't touch her!" The vampire lashed out before she had the slightest chance of doing anything else and tightened his grip around the girl pulling her closer. There was no boundary to the rage he felt. His only comfort was rapidly slipping between his very fingers._

"_You did this…it's your doing." Each single word was laced with venom. "This is your peace, their answer. This is their fucking answer!" he shouted so utterly lost in the anger and hatred he left that he almost made a sudden move forward to attack the knight. The shift of his body pressed onto that of the blade piercing Seras's chest and she arched in reflex to protect herself, but the only sound that barely succeeded in passing from her blood smeared, bluish lips was a gurgling noise followed by what seemed to be a deep inhale and a low and painful whine. _

_The vampire immediately became still refocusing all his attention on her. He cooed trying to soothe her pain._

"_Pull it out…" Integra said, shoulders shaking and face hidden from sight by her platinum, now almost completely white, hair. She continued with a scream. "Pull it out damn it what the hell are you waiting for?"_

"_I can't!" Alucard cuts her off finally raising his gaze and meeting her eyes. Furry was boiling within his. "The blade's pierced her heart. If I take it out she dies, if I move it she __**dies**__!" His eyes were turning feral, his fingers twitching involuntary as the control he was already lacking slipped further and further from his grasp. _

"_Listen to me servant!" the old knight took charge of the situation by grabbing Alucard by the collar of his white shirt and jerking his head in her direction with a sharp pull from the knot of his cravat. Her piercing icy blue eyes offered no leniency, but demanded obedience in return. "You will listen to me. Now tell me what happened."_

"_Iscariot…." The vampire responded in a manner that more than answered everything. The difference between what he said and what he left unspoken spoke volumes on its own. What he really meant was more in the real of: I'll kill them all. I'll kill you too should you dare oppose me._

Flashback end

"Is…cariot…" Seras's lips move mostly on their own repeating that one offensive word the man before her spoke with such deep hared and bitterness. She merely whispered it, but the last letters were lost in the bloody kiss as his lips descended over hers in a brief and chaste touch.

Flashback

_Neither turned or even blinked form more than a minute an a half as the vampire and his master starred at each other down in agonizing tension. None would or could afford to loose. _

"_Release me." In the end the simple need to preserve a cherished life prevailed. The tone calmed down, but the anger lingered on just as strong and just as potent burning at the surface with an intensely bright flame. "Release me so I can save her."_

"_Will their blood wash hers?"_

_He remained as silent as the dead._

"_Alucard!"_

_The draculina's body went completely still in the vampire's embrace. Her torso, and what little movement it could accomplish, stopped working altogether while her head gave up whatever battle it was fighting in an attempt to hold itself up. One final sigh passed her lips…_

_Feeling it happen, Alucard's body tensed preparing for the worst. His head jerked towards her once more: her eyelids were closed shut, her lips an even darker blue and her right cheek nestle in the crimson stained fabric of his gloved palm and fingers. _

_At least now pain had no more meaning and would torment her no longer. It was so soothingly quite…_

"_Seras!" the vampire unsuccessfully called her name over and over in desperation and such raw need it echoed off the surrounding walls cutting deeper and deeper into his dark and tormented soul. But…she doesn't move, she doesn't respond despite him shaking her. She is still, she remains unmoving. "No, no!"_

_It was for the first time in her life Integra saw the most powerful vampire in existence, the bane of all those unfortunate enough to cross his path, shed tears like any ordinary human; like any other man who finally trampled over his own pride and acknowledged his own suffering as something more than a weakness; the loss of the woman he, dare she say it, loved. There was no massive flow of tears or hysterical outbursts. Nothing but pure, yet elegantly displayed sorrow and sadness. The life seemed to fade from his magma irises and there was one, just one thin trickle of blood that ran a straight path over his right cheek. The knight's hand hesitated to touch the draculina's limp upper left arm unknowing if the flesh beneath her warm hand would feel colder than ice? Colder than the deathlike state she'd grown accustom to?_

_Her fingers tremble, she desired to know, but in the end decided not to._

"_Do not take her from me…" Alucard's words were like a shattered glass falling in between a crowd of shouting people: silent, without meaning or importance and unnoticed except for maybe those closes enough that bothered to turn their heads and glance its way. And for those few, brave enough to stand out of the crowd and hear, it __meant more than her words could ever hope to describe._

"_Alucard…"_

_His head dropped bowing before her while still holding onto the girl. It lowered till finally the top of his forehead touched Seras bloody chin. Several inky black strands fell on top of her chest and shoulder. His teeth clenched tightly, but then slackened as he further swallowed his pride for her sake and hers alone._

"_Please…." _

_It was in that moment there that the once mighty fell. And fall hard he did. His tone was that of a broken man. He pulled the tiny, mangled body closer to his chest in a gesture the knight had never though possible, a gesture she'd never considered him doing._

_She could just look on in return._

"_Release the restriction system to level 0._" _The old knight eventually uttered no louder than the hum of bee, yet the sound was the loudest he'd ever heard._

Flashback end

The draculina's eyes water and she cries blood. The pain she feels not her own, yet so strong it sears her very core. And crying, well crying seemed to be the only way in which she could cope with it. Everything she felt was so real no lie could be better. Her eyes still looked up into his face, but they were so far away and gone it was as if she was trapped in a deep trance. The pain was shredding her soul in half, but there was no other path left in order to save whatever was left of 'Seras Victoria'.

"We always do what we must to survive."

As he spoke he watched her lips part in a barely audible sob that matched the heartbreaking expression her beautiful face revealed. And he makes no sound or gesture toward the feel of her nails sinking into his arm or chest as she holds onto him for dear life. It was a small price to pay.

For some reason it seemed that fate was against him each and every time he'd tried to take his time and let her grown on her own and remember herself within the world he'd recreated for her benefit alone. Time would slip from her grasp casting her out into the cold and awaiting unforgiving jaws of wolves happily waiting for her to fall.

"My Lord…" Meanwhile, a man's hesitant voice spoke from outside the closed room only to be effectively silenced by the knife to his back and the hand over his mouth before he managed to take hold of the door's handle. His attacker acted swiftly and quickly and pulled the weapon out of his victim's back in order to cut his throat splattering blood over the front part of the door in a diagonal line form left to right.

"Traitor…" his attacker, the same man in his late 30s with short reddish brown hair and dark green eyes, cursed whispering the word very silently so it would not be picked up. Once a coconspirator, the man had had a sudden change of heart and instead of following with the established plan chose to turn his back on it and thus found a knife in his back for his trouble. His goal had been to warn of malicious intent, yet all he found was a path into death's embrace instead. Afterwards, he opened the door making sure to prevent it from squeaking to loudly as he then stepped inside followed by his father, who had so far been confined to the shadows. The monastery was no longer ablaze and consumed by chaos and almost all of their men either captured or dead after a sequence of events neither of the two could explain. Abandoning their men they left them to their fate and headed for their own.

The fabric divider offered a small degree of protection from the two men that made their way inside the chamber after silently disposing of their victim's body as not to arouse suspicion. Gabriel threw the body behind the right side corner.

The warlord turned his head in the direction of the sound cursing himself in his mind for his temporary lack of judgment. He'd forgotten. In his haste to ensure her safety, he'd forgotten of yet another assassination attempt. He could hear the two distinct footsteps of the men entering one in front of the other and see portions of their silhouettes as one of them stepped in front of the light of the candle on the table. He remains silent as he slowly lets go of Seras's body and gets up from the bed turning his back to her whilst reaching for the only weapon he had at his disposal: a concealed knife hidden behind the cuisse of his left leg.

"Master?" Seras pleads in a broken voice far too lost in the distress of thoughts, memories and feelings not her own to realize what was happening around her. Unfortunately, the sound of her voice makes the two men stop for a moment. They cannot see what lies behind the divider due to the thickness and color of the fabric as well as the lacking source of light. And without sight they have to rely on hearing alone.

Seras hung her head low and a good portion of her hair fell over her shoulders hiding her face and her crimson tears.

_You died…_

The words still rang an awful truth in her ears and the image of her mangled body in her master's arms lingered behind her shut eyelids without changing. Haunting her, taunting her. She lacked the strength to see beyond it no matter who hard she tried. Her mind refused to see. Yet even so, deep with, her vampiric senses came to life reemerging from beneath the thick blanket of pain and numbness at the smell of the freshly spilled blood; blood that was still dripping down the man's hand and blade as he held it. Thus 'Master' became more than a simple plea. It was also a question, a question regarding them. No one dared to speak afterwards, the calm before the storm. The sound of a snowflake hitting the earth miles and miles away would have been louder.

Seras picked up on the sound of their heartbeat, a steady yet slightly fast and increasing rhythm that accompanied the prospect and pleasure of viciously taking someone's life. And yet, the twin beats seemed as if running when compared to that of her master; his heart strong, yet eerily calm with no fear whatsoever.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump…._

And so it went on before….

The younger of the two men, seeing as he was closest to the dividing fabric, made his move first. He launches his body forward pushing his sword forward into the fabric and thus into his intended victim. He was blind as he went partaking in a dangerous gamble without fully understanding the game and the person he was playing against.

Seeing the silhouette shift position and ready itself for a strike Vlad reacted fast and without hesitation and turned the situation more to his advantage than it already was. He moved out of the way and grabbed the blade of the sword as soon as he saw it pierce through the fabric and pulled it inside despite the sharp edge of the weapon cutting into the skin of his palm of his left hand. At the same time he made good use of his right foot using it to unbalance his opponent as well as incapacitate him by not only breaking his wrist with great efficiency using his right hand, but also permanently disfigure him with the help of his left hand and the knife he transferred to it second prior to the beginning of the attack. The small blade was quickly traded from hand to mouth then back to his bleeding appendage once he freed his left hand from the man's blade. He swept it over the man's face cutting deeply into his left cheek so that it left a deep and bleeding cut diagonal in shape that tore his cheek open from the corner of his lips to the base of his ear. Any higher and the blade would have removed his eye as well.

The sword dropped form the man's shattered hand in a muffled cry of pure agony from both his wrist and face ruined.

"Gabriel!" the Baron could do little more than call out his son's name at that point. In his arrogant pride he had failed to draw his sword after entering the room confident in his belief that his son could accomplish the deed on his own. He too had forgotten one thing though; he'd forgotten exactly who his opponent was. And as such he was late in responding to the sudden change in situation and his tardiness left the younger man exposed.

Crippled by pain the later falls to his right knee, but is stopped approximately halfway way the warlord pulls him back up towards him with his right hand before effectively kicking him in the stomach. The man falls backwards crashing into his father's chest as the latter finally reaches him. His cheek bleeds profusely from the disfiguring cut and the blood he sheds mars his entire face and clothes above his left shoulder while his wrist is bent at an unnatural angle. The side of his breastplate snags a piece of the hanged material causing the entire makeshift curtain to fall as it's pulled down with him as he falls. The piece of rope holding it together snaps under the man's weight and the fabric crumples at his feet and over his legs exposing the bed and the young woman sitting on top of it with her head bowed forward and her hair obstructing her face.

Vlad picks up the discarded sword amidst the confusion and uses it to effectively block the upcoming blow. His blade clashes with that of the elderly man with almost as much anger as the latter's eyes reveal. Blue meets dark green.

"You dare raise your sword against me?" the warlord hisses in rage at the defying act as the swordplay begins. The twin blades barely had time to separate before joining time and time again.

"I find you wanting." The man hisses in return in insubordination revealing where his true loyalty actually lied. He swings his blade up high in an effort to increase the force of his blows, yet Vlad counters each and every blow with precise accuracy and even succeeds in gaining the upper hand by crouching low after the forth blow was struck and swinging his right arm around the man's leg in order to grab his thigh and trip him before throwing him over his head as though he weighed less than a sack of potatoes, armor and all. The man hits the ground hard falling on his back with the warlord already up on his feet.

For the price of a short moment the raven haired man takes a moment to catch his breath before changing the way he held the hilt of his sword and quickly turning around as if guided by a sixth sense. The new position of the weapon allowed him to swing the blade whilst keeping it parallel to his forearm with the tip close to his elbow. He turns to the left, his movement fluid, and thus blocks his new challenger with the same ease. The muscle in his arm tense and contract as he holds it up at eyelevel and parallel to the ground keeping the sword in the exact same position and fending off the younger man's sword.

Fighting the pain of a broken limb and a disfigured face the green eyed man catches a glimpse of the warlord's sword, the shining clean blade and golden handle calling out to him while leaning against one of the table's legs. He makes a move for it and as soon as blade finds his hands the fight he advances whilst Vlad's back was turned; he never expected his blow to be blocked once again. Metal hit metal clinging loudly in the aftershock of the blow, yet Vlad pushes forward freeing his blade and quickly turning around to face the older man anew. He could not leave his back out in the open a second time, not with the elder already getting to his feet. Unfortunately, the effort of keeping both his attackers at bay was already beginning to take its toll on him and the still fresh wound on his side. The cut had yet to be cauterized with fire and despite barely having stopped bleeding not long ago was reopened by the effort his body was experiencing. It stained the bandage around his abdomen, burning like a beacon in the dark, and proved itself to be an opportunity the younger soldier did not let slip by. Thus he draws his right leg up to his chest and slams the sole of his boot into Vlad's lover back. He deliberately chooses the left side making sure as much of the blow as possible would cause damage to the preexisting arrow wound.

Vlad grunts in pain and his left knee buckles under his weight causing him to fall and kneel on it and use his sword at the last minute to steady himself. He thrusts the tip of the blade into the crease between two stone slabs just as his knee touches the ground next to it. His right knee remains up at a 90 degree angle to support his weight, but the searing pain in his side makes his reaction time slow down. He turns, but the amount of time in which he remains utterly exposed and unable to defend himself was still dangerously close to the limit. The reddish brown haired man shouts starting to swing his blade and bring it down on his bare back. For a moment the situation tilts in his favor, the outcome a clear victory on his behalf, but then…it all stops.

There is a rush of air, the sound of crushing bone and that of metal hitting the floor; sounds that overshadow those of the battle before. Seras's right hand is sticking out of the middle of the young soldier's chest, her fingers held perfectly straight as though a blade themselves, blood coating them in such a large quantity that it dripped down the tips of her fingers onto the ground as well as the tips of his boots. The sound was just as loud when she pulled her arm back ripping the boy's heart in the process. He falls to his knees in front of her, his back to her chest, giving his last breath with a trickle of blood that passes his lips and the closing of his eyes never to open again. His entire body tilts to the right entering deaths embrace long before he touches the ground.

"No!" the Baron screams pushing himself to his feet ready to exact vengeance for his child's death. He makes a pass for his sword, the weapon having fallen from his hand when he'd been shoved to the ground, but fate holds his destiny in the same pot as that of his son. The warlord stomps on his right hand with his left foot before he even has a remote chance to reach it and curl his fingers around the hilt. He hits him directly over the right temple with the rounded end of his sword's hilt knocking him almost unconscious. His breathing is hard and his breath elaborate as he's forced to keep his right hand over his wound; blood seeps between his fingers staining them with ease. The bandage was soaked with a few rivulets trickling down his abdomen and loosing themselves in the black fabric of his leather pants.

"My lord…" Paul's voice suddenly reaches his ears moments before the boy storms in the room with haste supporting a large bruise and a cut on his forehead and coagulated blood marring the right side of his face and hair. Waking to the memory of impaled bodies shook him to the core, the sight of it still utterly fresh and real behind his closed eyelids, and yet there was nothing there any longer. He wasn't even outside in the yard where it all went dark and horribly wrong, but on a simple cot inside with a priest by his side. He stumbles on his own two feet dizzy from te sever blow to the head he could not remember receiving, but manages to somehow maintain his balance and not make a fool of himself.

"Get that _thing_ out of my sight." Vlad commands in a calm, yet decisive and harsh tone pointing the tip of his blade at the pain stricken man currently fighting to stay awake and fight of his own concussion. The tip of the swords hovers dangerously over his Adam's apple. "Now!"

The boy did not dare to disobey after hearing that same tone take on a dangerous, dare he say it, demonic streak, a tone that usually meant painful punishment for all those who dared rise against him.

"Y..Yes of course."

And so, like the obedient puppy keeping his tail between his legs whilst following his upset master, he does as told and drags the dead man's body by his arms outside of the room staining the floor in the latter's blood while doing so.

"If I am wanting in my task you have failed in your altogether." That said he bends forward grabbing hold of the Baron's breastplate just around the base of his throat and pulls him to his knees letting him retain that position: head bent, arms to his sides and shoulders slumped forward; a position of submission. There is no emotion within the warlord's ruthless blue gaze as he places the tip of his sword back against his throat cutting the skin open just enough to draw a small amount of blood. He is by right judge, jury and with his final decree executioner as well.

"The others will meet you shortly as you look down upon the world from the height you wished to achieve." Yet he does not take the man's life by cutting his throat or severing his head. Instead he pulls the blade from him only to immediately shove it forward into his left shoulder piercing both the armor of his breastplate and the upper part of his left lung. He shoves it in all the way until the hilt almost touches the cold metal of the breastplate.

"Take him as well." He then order releasing the sword and stepping back to the sound of the man's agonic cry and forced intake of breath. When done he turns from him completely as Paul returns, his task completed. He simply commands expecting things to get done as ordered. Punishment should fit the crime and thus the sword now shortening his life had originally been his sons; a fitting end.

"They are to be impaled, both of them. And let their _followers_ see their bodies rot and bleed."

Paul merely nods his head before making his way around his master to take the last remaining body. He does not dare do anything to enrage him for fear of crossing the ruthless man now in his hour or hatred, yet by passing him he catches a single glimpse of the golden haired beauty sharing his room and makes the mistake of allowing his gaze to linger a moment too long. The which, though her back was turned to him, was just as breathtaking as he remembered; the almost bare curves and lines of her upper body _perfect_.

"Look at her again and I will see you alleviated of the burden that are your eyes." His tone took a turn for the worst, darkening severely beyond the intensity it had portrayed when sentencing the man to death. His words carried a far dangerous threat as well as a solemn promise of severe retribution and vengeance should his demand not be met. "Get out!"

"Forgive me." He quickly whimpers an apology while making both himself and the Baron scarce. The task proves a bit more difficult than removing the dead body of his son, but it gets done a few moments later nonetheless. The door closes behind him.

Seras doesn't move. She's as still as beautifully sculptured marble statue recently unveiled to the world and just as alluring as her silent siren's call unknowingly draws people in to stare at the utter perfection of her work. Her gaze is fixed on the hand in front of her, her back facing her master.

With her right palm upwards and her fingers spread wide the warm liquid delicately coating them drips ever so often onto the stone tablets beneath her feet. At first it had been the noise bothering the cries within her head and she was compelled to silence it. She could not hear the thought raging inside her own mind. However, with her task complete the heart became her new fascination: a steady and independent rhythm singing in her ears as if calling her. Yet then, as it gradually decreased growing weaker and weaker, the same fascination wore off and she discarded it. Even so, it did have one final effect on the young vampire: it caused her own heart to enter a trance and mimic the gesture. The more she starred at it the more she fell into its spell, the more her heart rate slowed fearing to stop.

The motion of the ongoing battle faded to second place inside her mind and she began remembering why she all of a sudden smelled two distinct types of blood: the man's and her own. He was dead and…and so was she.

_Twin large door part as an armor clad Alucard steps in carrying the heavily bleeding form of hi young fledgling. He enters the barely lit room heading toward the sole piece of partially intact furniture remaining: the remains of what had once been a beautifully sculpture wooden canopy bed and ripped drapes. _

She no longer needed her master to see that which had always been at her disposal; the knowledge so deeply buried in the lowest, darkest corner of her mind. Everything she'd forgotten and everything her mind chose to forget.

The thumping organ in her palm stopped as she gripped it tighter coiling her fingers around it, but the one inside her chest, ironically, began to speed up growing without true cause. The recurring sentiment of fear and dread were waking within her soul; the fear of death. That one constant in the lives of all dead, undead or alive alike.

"Seras…" Vlad calls her name softly as not to startle her while walking up behind her. His hand no longer bares the heavy weight of a sword and his blue eyes focus on her and not his next victim. He watches as her right hand tilts to the side releasing the lifeless organ and letting it fall to the floor before drawing her hand up towards her chest and brushing her index and middle finger over her heart. Not once did she turn to look at him.

"I died, didn't I?" her voice is soft and as silent as a diluted whisper in the strong current of the wind. She finally turns a little to peer over her right shoulder towards him when he cups her face with care turning it for her. He doesn't reply with words but instead his eyes express his sadness as he leans in, but stops just before his forehead touches hers. His right thumb caresses her cheek with the utmost care. Seras closes her eyes dropping her head as her lisp part releasing a troubled sigh and her forehead settles against his chin. The hand which still touched her chest turns around seeking his own instead. The truth cams so easily…

Flashback

"_Seras…" Alucard whispered in vain carefully placing her unconscious form on the stone floor in front of the bed and then kneeling beside her. The metal plates of his armor clang as he did while his long red and dark cape fanned behind him and halfway over her legs as he subsequently moved. Afterwards he wasted no time in removing his gloves and cupping her apparently sleeping face once more. With great care he whipped the smeared blood from her cheeks then leaned over her in order to bury his face into the small crook of her throat on the right side. The black of his raven hair covered her chest like a blanket as it fell over right shoulder. "I will take care of you draculina."_

_His lips sampled her flesh rejoicing in its sweet taste one moment longer then bit down hard over the two marks already there, his twin elongated fangs sinking in without any resistance yet any true desire as well. The little blood left within her fading system gushed into his awaiting mouth with hardly any force at all. He took three gulps and moved his right hand over the sharp blade of the sword while the left remained across her shoulder blades and gripping her right shoulder. _

_He pulled with all his might. _

"_Ahhhh!" Seras's eyes shot open and her ear piercing scream filled the entire room. Blood was everywhere gushing out of her wound as the latter clanged loudly while hitting the floor as the vampire threw it in anger and disgust across the room and quickly remade use of his free arm attempting to stop the heavy bleeding. It barely made a dent. Each crimson drop that trickled from her body spread and joined its brothers and sisters until all of them together formed single unity that spread over her front like a loose wildfire in an utterly dried up forest. _

_Putting pressure on the wound became redundant and so Alucard removed his hand from her chest and placed his wrist over her mouth forcing the pointy tips of her fangs to press against it until his skin was savagely mangled and bleeding. The liquid ran down her throat without stopping, but she did not gulp it down as there was no time and no strength for such luxury. The life giving fluid merely flooded her system, the esophagus and trachea alike, until she drowned in it from both the outside and the inside. At the same time several black tendrils emerged from underneath his cape starting to crawl over her limbs with the purpose of covering her like a blanket. Every part of her body was buried and every tendril which brushed up against her skin cut it deep then forced its own way inside and pumped more blood into the already saturated veins and arteries._

_It seemed like forever until the ancient vampire felt the tiniest spark of life radiate from the dying draculina lying at his feet. He removed his wrist from her mouth and had to immediately place it on the ground before her to stabilize his own body from falling over due to the heightened sense of blood loss he'd just endured. He gasped out loud and had to breathe deeply, yet each breath brought a new wave of cruel torture upon his body as the scent of Seras's blood penetrated deeper and deeper into his famished lungs. Not one sound though came from said person. _

_As Alucard brought her head closer to his chest the mass of blood and darkness retreated and revealed her bare and bleeding form to his burning eyes. Her head came out first with a noticeable intake of breath and crimson which leaked from the right corner of her mouth. The rest of her followed shortly as the literal blanket she wore glided off of her form as any silk blanket would with the gentlest o movement. First the elegant column of her throat, then collar bones, chest, abdomen, limbs….and still so much blood. Her body still kept its position, unmoving and lifeless, except for that one deep breath. The many cuts inflicted on her skin healed as soon as the cold night air touched her pale flesh while the crimson which had painted it was drawn back into her and absorbed until all traces of its presence were washed away. The fatal wound over her heart left no trace other than a long, reddish and uneven scar directly over her heart. One thing more stood out in regards to the young fledglings appearance: her hair no longer spiked and it no longer just '__**barely'**__ touched her shoulders; it rained down her shoulders and his left arm like a golden veil which then gathered next to her hips pooling behind her. Surely, it would reach well passed her knees were she to stand on her own. _

_Seras's arms remained in place, the let on the ground by her side and the right crossed over her lower abdomen and let hip. Her eyelids stayed closed and her body as lifeless as a beautiful china doll's. _

Flashback end

The image of the sword ripped from her chest had the biggest effect on Seras prompting her to press her head further into the comfort of his large palm. Her hand pressed against her chest smearing the bandages in the dead man's blood as she took firm hold of them. Her eyes reopen lowering to see her stained fingers over her heart. The image immediately triggers an intense sense of desperation within her causing her to jerk away form his embrace and desperately fight against the blood she was seeing. It covered her hand, her fingers, the bandages…her skin…everything…

"Of…" she whispers incredibly light while sobbing and panicking at the mere sight of it. "Get it off!" she then screams wiping at her hands and chest furiously in an effort to get rid of the man's blood marring her. She didn't absorb it like she should have, nor would she ever. Her claws scratch against her skin with enormous rage behind each gesture until the bandages are almost entirely ripped from her chest and fall one shredded piece at a time around her and long scratches mar her skin.

"Get it off!" blood dripped down her face with each sob and the more desperate she got in her actions the more crimson her eyes and her claws shed. The new deep scratched all over the front of her chest bled as well until Vlad stops her by forcefully grabbing her wrists and forcing her hands to stop and pulling her back against his body refusing to let go.

"You were dying." He tells her in a hard and serious tone meant to calm her. "You died draculina. Nothing can change that."

"No…" she whispers back finally able to tear her gaze from the mess she made of her chest and meet his gaze.

"A true vampire's death and I had no power to stop it." He continues making sure not to break eye contact. And the look within them offered no room for any kind of doubt. A moment passes then Seras blinks shedding a fresh new wave of tears. She sighs attempting to free her hands from his grasp by gently tugging them back. Nevertheless, he does not let go and instead only pulls her closer until she's perfectly molded against his chest and her forehead falls over the base of his throat. He too sighs while taking a small gamble in releasing her left wrist. Her hand drops almost lifeless over his right biceps while his arm moves around her shoulders before tracing the curve of her spine upward towards her neck.

Seras's shoulders visibly trembled as she continued to silently sob into his chest staining both his skin and the strap of cloth wrapped around his left shoulder. The warlord then lowers his head brushing his lips against her forehead before joining their lips in a powerful, yet tender kiss. Seras sighs in return kissing him back and as their lips dance together in a slow and steady rhythm meant to explore and savor the moment above all he moves his fingers with tremendous care over the softness of her pale cheek tilting her head backwards and deepening the kiss.

Showing her more…much more…

Flashback

_The vampire regarded her for a moment longer stricken by the sudden and utter difference in the young woman he'd cursed to an eternal sin filled life. She was, in that moment there, more beautiful than ever before; truly a magnificent sight with hair as yellow and bright as the sun and skin so pale it shone more brightly than the purest of white pearls. His eyes fall prisoner to the silent call of her blood stained lips. They called out, no, the blood they carried called out with such heat and intensity he would be but a fool to disregard such pure a demand. _

_He closes his eyes fighting temptation a bit longer and grabs hold of the fabric of his own cape pulling it off his shoulders and drapes it over her nude form. Once he let go of it at the very base of her throat the dark fabric slid down her flesh an inch or two more as though refusing to obey and cover the unconscious girl. Alucard picked her up with the utmost care and took one step forward, then a second and a third and the forth that was just half a step as his right knee touched the edge of the soft mattress of the large bed first and then sank into it as he let his entire weight and that of the girl press down as he bent over the right side of the bed and gently placed the golden haired beauty onto its surface. The strands themselves, too long to be contained, formed a halo like surface around her head, shoulders and chest; only a few of the silk like fibers remained stuck to his fingers and amour as he pulled both his arms back, but not once did they pose resistance to his retreating limbs. All they did was to glide along the surface of her hidden muscles and flesh until there was no more surface to go by and they fell onto the bed to join the rest. The metal plates of the vampire's amour disappeared as he moved to hover over her form revealing a simple dark, cotton shirt underneath. He leaned his body to the left and had his weight rest on his knee and elbow for the time being. His long calloused fingers touched her left cheek with great care as her head moved from left to right then left again and finally towards him completely. The movement was irregular and distraught as her body moved on its own unable to stay still any longer. Her right leg pokes out from under his cape and her right hand rises to grab hold of his upper right arm as her eyelids struggle to open. The rest of her limbs do not move an inch but a very distressed sigh, no whimper, passes form her lips. Her eyelids continue to remain down and her eyes hidden away unable to follow her will. Her sharp nails puncture holes in the grey shirt, one for each finder, holes that are then marred by the small amount of blood springing forth._

"_Shhhh…" the vampire soothes her with his deep and gentle tone as he presses his forehead onto hers. For a moment she becomes incredibly silent as the sound of his deep soothing voice whispers warming her face. "Rest. You must rest your body draculina. Do not move."_

_Seras whimpers and her grip, conscious or not, tightens around his biceps: the right to his arm and the left to the front of his shirt. The left corner of her mouth bled still and, as she opened and closed her lips time and time again, he could see the crimson which stained all of her teeth and mouth. At that point the muscles in her face contorted: her brows frowned and her head flexed with another whimper so that her chin touched the base of her throat before it immediately arched backwards in a silent open mouth scream. _

_Alucard quickly immobilizes her before her back makes it off the mattress. He uses his weight to push her back down, his chest pressing against hers and pelvis holding her down though it was from the side alone. Another whimper, more like a cry, filled the room after which she bared her fangs and turned her head to the left once again exposing the right side of her throat. This new position allowed the old vampire to rest his right cheek over hers and have his own mouth hover mere inches over her flesh and the wounds recently inflicted upon it. His breath moved like wind over dunes of sand: unnoticed by the distance between them, but still present as to move the fine grains of sand._

"_Seras." He calls with great tenderness, but his voice fails to soothe the cries and agony her entire body suffers from over and over again. Her left leg continued to move on its own bending and extending from the knee down in an almost rhythmic pattern pushing against the mattress while Her left hand no longer held the fabric of his shirt as the slightly long nails were instead raking across the front of his chest in short up and down strokes. "Seras…." He tries once more. His lips press directly over her ear while he lets his right hand glide down the column of her throat then her left shoulder and upper arm. With each second that passes her breathing turns more and more elaborate and erratic as though something big was building up inside of her threatening to rip her apart. _

"_Ahh.." her vocal cord finally allow one true sound to proclaim its freedom though it too barely rises over the tones of the former whimpers and sighs. The sound itself is accompanied by a deep intake of air and the movement of her body pushing against his. And as soon as it ends her eyelids shoot up to reveal two completely black irises both of which start to bleed without delay and control. Her neck arches once more and pitch black tears roll off her cheeks instead of pure crimson ones._

_Alucard acts to bite down latching his mouth to the vulnerable and exposed portion of the girl's throat. His deadly fangs do not pierce her flesh and yet the simple and mere mimic of the act itself sends a clear message to her very core. Seras's eyelids close anew; tears of blood leaking from their corners mixing with the black and her throat arches into his mouth while turning at the same time. Her breath is lost in the many silk raven strands that cover his entire left shoulder. As soon as the vampire lips begin to move against her skin her left hand drops lifeless from his chest to her own and the unmistakable scent of fresh, warm blood fills his nostrils. Not one of his sharp fangs had pierced the thin layer of creamy soft flesh despite their inevitable growth as soon as the simple touch was made and yet she bled, heavily. They only grazed her skin in a tender caress which was shortly followed by a similar motion of both his tongue and lips. _

_Thus, the shortly lived frenzy inflicted by the mere taste of warm flesh ceased abruptly and the vampire withdrew his mouth form the right side of her throat. The middle of Seras's chest bled out from the very wound he'd thought closed moments ago; wound that had been closed moments ago. The cut itself was surrounded by a patch of dark, completely black skin almost like a tattoo or burn that grew and expanded from various points like ink diluting in clear water. One of these points moved upwards towards her clavicles and spread the ink like tattoo over both the left side of her chest and the lowest segment of either shoulder. _

_Alucard wasted no time in placing his right hand over the wound and his underarm thus over her abdomen pushing against her. His own skin and the fabric of his sleeve became soaked in the large mount of dark blood seeping out of the wound. The pressure on his left biceps also decreased significantly about a second or two after the draculina's eyelids dropped and her head fell lifeless. Her breath no longer caressed his scalp. _

_/No!/ was his only thought. The young vampire lay there motionless bleeding all over the surface of the bed from the severe, life threatening wound; this time appearing truly…__**dead**__._

"_Seras!" he screams her name while jerking her face back towards him using his right hand. He quickly frees his left arm of the burden of supporting his weight so he can press it over her chest and moves his right leg in between her knees for better leverage. Her eyes open briefly, weakly, at the sudden movement her head endures, but close once more seconds later; a light speck of crimson visible in the otherwise pitch black iris while everything else about them continued to shed tears of pure blood. The darkness was fading from her eyes and with it so was she. The left side of her mouth was stained red, a red that dripped even after Alucard licked it away. Her entire left arm blackened then lost its shape turning into the swirling mass of shadows that had been the very first sign of her newly found power all those years ago._

"_Seras!" he shouts for a second time. His lips now bare the mark of her blood and hover directly over hers, but nothing could have prepared the ancient vampire from the sudden shock which washed over him at the actual taste of the red liquid in question: it wasn't hers. All that blood that was leaking out of her body that was forcing its way out of her system at such rapid pace wasn't hers; it was his. Every ounce and every drop he'd given in a desperate effort to preserve her life was being pushed back and shoved aside like garbage. _

Flashback end

When Seras broke the kiss, the same black tears she saw herself shed rolled down her cheeks like a vibrant torrent. The liquid coated her skin while trailing down towards the sides of her face and jaw line yet, neither seemed to mind their presence as their lips were joined a second time. He allowed not one moment to ponder or question seen events, no time to allow the feeling of dread and fear to take over.

"Take the blood Seras." He whispers hotly into the kiss, breath warm on her face, while wrapping his other arm around her slender waist. "Take it."

"Master…" never before did the words rang more true than in that moment when it's full meaning made utter and complete sense to the young vampire. His blood, it had always been his blood that she should have taken.

"You carry our ancient blood, my blood. But a sword to the heart, silver and blessed, brings nothing but death. I tried my best." His lips moved against her lips as his **right** hand slid down her cheek and the column of her throat so he could grasp it firmly. The draculina whimpers softly in return as her eyes suddenly start feeling weak and her vision is blurred and hazed from both the bloody tears and her body suddenly feeling weak like it was beginning to shut down just like that night. And yet she feels so much; every inch of her skin had a heightened sense of touch from the sheer amount of blood it felt smeared over its surface and pumped into her system; exactly like that night. Her chest feels heavy as though an incredible weight not only rested over it but simultaneously pushed down on it with all its strength. Her legs were failing making the feel of his strong arms around her and his chest supporting her weight an even stronger reality. He was the only thing keeping her up at this point.

She is too tired and too limb to move more than she already has, but she feels each and every one of his touches upon her. He is like a blurred figure of black, white and cream that moves ever so often in front of her face.

"Seras..." The deep baritone which calls her name comes like the sweetest of lullabies luring her into a peaceful sleep and yet, at the same time, pulls her back from drowning into the deep ocean her body has fallen into.

His lips are on her throat, blunt teeth grazing her skin with firm stokes and dull tips that match those of his tongue and burning hot lips. His left arm tightens its grip around her waist crushing her to his chest, his palm and fingers spreading wide over her bare lower back burning her skin alive. For a moment alone there was the tiniest hint at a prick against her flesh before he bites down penetrating her flesh deeply in one single bite. His teeth are no longer _human_ and she whimpers loudly into his ear arching her back into his unyielding embrace.

The strain felt inside her chest culminates to great heights until there is nothing, but immense pain and the silent parting of her lips in something other than pleased sigh.

Flashback

_She coughs without warning…_

_A sudden and violent fit that pushes even more blood out of her already weakened body to stain the already marred pillow casing. The spasm in her chest muscles bring so much pain forth she unconsciously moves and molds herself towards the one source of comfort within her reach….her master…._

_Her body is ready to give up…it can't go on any longer…_

_Everything hurt so bad… _

"_Hhaahh…" the golden haired draculina struggles to breathe after each fit ends; each intake forms a gurgled sound as the large amount of blood floods both her trachea and esophagus. Neither have any use or purpose, but she's in a to greater state of shock to understand._

"_Seras?" Her eyes open halfway to one final and a clear image of her master's beautiful crimson orbs staring intently and full of concern at her. His face hovers directly over hers and is framed by the long wavy strands of inky black hair which only seem to frame and heighten his unique features: the mesmerizing crimson eyes, the light beard and dark mustache, the perfectly pale skin…so glorious….. _

_It all becomes pointless as Alucard's lips descend without warning to capture her parted ones. Both his hands hold her down and he no longer leans over her and instead has his entire weight keeping her in place: his shifts position pushing the base of his cape away until his hips are easily cradled by the slender v of her thighs and gently squeezed as her body still rocks from coughing up all of that blood; his right hand held her left cheek with great care while the right held her waist moving under her upper back and arching her into his chest. _

_The soaked upper part of his cape was now halfway down her body as he had, in all hopelessness, tried his best to stop the bleeding by pressing down on the wound once again. Unfortunately, the wound refused to close back up and she continued to bleed making all of his efforts in vain until there was no more point to it and he stopped. _

_The kiss that then came was born out of desperation: he was loosing her and it wasn't a possibility any longer. It became a solid and certain fact. Seras's life was slipping between his fingers like a thread and he was utterly powerless to stop it. For the first time in 600 years the tears of the vampire king were not his own; for the first time since dying he was bound by mortal law. That one true constant…death. And with it the lack of power to stop it._

_One way or the other…death comes to us all…_

"_Seras…" Alucard spoke in a gentle manner as he broke away from her lips. Still, he kept them close enough to have them brush against each other as he continued to speak. Even the tone of his otherwise calm and collected voice betrayed the frantic emotional state he was going through. "Don't close your eyes draculina. Look at me. Seras look at me." She did. As hard and as weak as she could the twin black irises seasoned with ruby red crystals tried to focus, desperately, on his handsome, yet pain stricken face. _

_Seras had to swallow and breathe to keep the new wave of crimson from coming up and preserve the focus she currently had on him. It was fading fast, too fast._

"_Accept the blood draculina. I beg you please." Alucard's left hand left her waist in favor of pressing his elbow in the mattress to further supported his upper body; both his arms held him up on either side of her shoulders as not to crush the fragile form beneath him. _

"_Take the blood Seras. Do not close your eyes and take the blood I offer."_

"_Hhaahhh…" The golden haired vampire had to swallow again and turn her head form his piercing gaze. Afterwards her mouth parted in another silent, almost completely silent scream. The lower half of her body contorted as the upper one arched upward into his chest in a limited movement because of his blocking the way. _

"_Hu..h…hurts…."she managed to whisper before her head fell backwards into the soft pillow which supported it. The rest of her body followed, muscles finally relaxing, allowing her to sink into the mattress. She hadn't the strength to reach out and touch his sides despite her hands being to utterly close. A few cm alone and her fingers would have had something soft, yet firma and soft to grasp. _

"_Please look at me." Alucard pleaded like a man on the brink of loosing everything he had with little if no regard at all as to how such a simple sentence would sound coming from someone like him. Pride and honor be damned._

_His mouth latched onto her pulse point after she turned towards him in a silent plea that turned out to be just as meaningful as the spoken one. Seras sighed at the contact then spoke, her breath still incredibly uneasy, while baring her throat to him in sheer reflex. "Hur…ts…"_

"_I beg you to take it." he whispers hoarsely into the flesh of her throat. "I need you to accept the blood I offered. Please you're drowning in it. I can't save you otherwise."_

_Seras whimpers weakly pressing the right side of her face into his raven hair. The mattress beneath her torso was fully soaked in crimson and even the golden strands of her long locks became wet and stained in red and dark red as the blood slowly but surely began to coagulate._

"_Take the blood Seras!" the vampire shouted in utter despair, forehead dropping over hers. And in that one moment of weakness the strength in his voice and body were washed away like sand on the beach during the tied. His shoulders slumped as though every ounce of strength left his muscles and the utter sense of failure and defeat swept over him like ice cold water; his voice was nothing she'd ever heard before, his voice was crying._

"_Please, please take the blood into you. Don't close your eyes draculina. Don't close your eyes." The sweet warmth of his breath caressed her lips and chin so gently and tenderly despite the pain concealed within each word. 'Don't close your eyes'…__**Don't die draculina. Don't die.**__ That was the actual meaning behind those words. A plain and simple: 'don't die'. Don't leave, don't leave __**me**__._

_There was such pain in those glorious magma eyes staring at her from behind the raven curtain made out of his bangs that it called out to her very soul with intensity strong enough to burn through anything. And, they were right there; barely inches apart and just a touch, a heartbeat away. _

_The draculina had no time to utter a word as she became trapped in the heat of that marvelous sight. They were such beautiful, sincere eyes and they utterly and completely revealed everything and hid nothing at all. Unfortunately, for as truthful as they were, the one person it was all meant for could nothing but look on and listen message so frantically conveyed. Seras looked, eyelids halfway down, and lips parted as she breathed through her mouth, her breath quickening. Finally and feebly, though it cost her everything she had, every ounce of strength left, she smiled a weak smile and touched the right side of his face with her blood covered fingers._

Flashback end

Vlad pulled away with, surprisingly, not the slightest trace of blood on his mouth or the sign of sharp and deadly fangs peering from underneath his lips as he bit her. His lips sample her flesh one last time without breaking the contact shared as he moves up her throat to the underside of her jaw and the spot just under her lobe which he then lavishes with attention as his beard teased the moist skin he left behind. When he finally pulls away for go he does it to the harmonious, angelic sound voice caressing his ears and her head turning to face him brushing her lips against the corner of his mouth.

Seras blinks a fresh wave of tears that drip onto the back of his hand before his mouth sweeps over the fine rivulet and their eyes lock. It was the same sight she'd seen before: the same ocean eyes she'd seen inside her mind as a sticking crimson: utterly sincere and bare all accounts without having the smallest thing to hide; every carefully guarded emotion laid out before her humble form. Her left hand rose almost on its own and, mimicking a vision from the past, touched the right side of his face with her blood covered fingers.

_The tips of her four fingers touched the part of flesh right next to the right corer of his mouth while her thumb remained suspended in mid air. her left hand was slowly and hesitantly reforming, she was fighting, but it was a loosing battle._

"Do not leave me draculina." He whispers hoarsely against her parted lips at the same time the very same words echo in her mind in a dark, cold and empty room of the castle. A beautifully shooting soft baritone that spoke volumes and touched her very core.

_"Do not leave me draculina."_

A phrase to break any heart. And the way he looked and gazed into her eyes finally connected in the dyeing girl's mind.

Seras closes her eyes birthing more tears into the world and let her head slightly drop so that so that his attempt to kiss her ended with him kissing the left corner of her nose instead of her lips. She breaths heavily breathing it and flexing the tips of her fingers over the length of his cheek before cupping it anew as she lowered them to the angle of his jaw. The small hairs of his beard felt rough to the touch unlike the rest of his skin and yet, they made everything seemed all the more real.

She sighs again parting her lips and placing her mouth over his despite the blood partially smearing hers from the many tears shed. A bloody kiss…

Every move of her lips came with a matching stoke of her fingers against his cheek and jaw until she gave the latter up completely in favor of the former.

The warlord responds in full, the flashes of the past slowly overlap with the present.

_Flashback_

_Claiming her lips in a chaste kiss he immediately pulled back afterwards and sought out his own right wrist, the formerly inflicted wound having closed on its own by then. The way he bit into it was savage as he ripped through the whole thing in one clean swoop ensure adequate blood flow. He was close enough for her to see him feeding off the self inflicted wound for a second, yet his throat failed to mimic the necessary movement needed in order to complete the act. A few seconds, no more, was all it took for his mouth to latch onto the wound, suck the ancient and rich crimson liquid and then transfer it all to her faster than it took her to blink once in exhaustion. His mouth dominated hers and kept it open as his lips and tongue coaxed her into drinking the warm blood flooding her mouth. It was a bloody dance and although some of it spilled between their exploring lips, the majority wasn't wasted or lost._

_As soon as the draculina began __**drinking**__ from her master her breathing slowly evened out while her body was consumed by a light relaxing sensation. Both their lips were hungry and eager for another as the kiss did not end even long after there wasn't any more blood to give. And when it eventually did stop, it was merely for a breath and nothing more; the movement stopped but the contact remaining though not as strong. The pool of blood embedded into the fabric of the cape, mattress and sheets began to swirl rise all around her as small marble shaped drops perfectly round that quickly sought the safety of her flesh. Most of it, however, retains its original form and merely moved up as tendrils and ribbons of crimson over her pale skin. The wound itself stopped bleeding, but did not fade just yet._

Flashback end

Vlad moves his hand from her throat down her clavicle then shoulder molding his large, warm palm perfectly over the ball of her small, round shoulder. He then, as the kiss intensifies, he places it around her waist and slowly backs her up towards the bed. They have barely three steps to go before he lifts her up effortlessly without breaking the passionate kiss.

Afterwards he turns about a 1/4 of the way to the left, places his left knee on the simple mattress and lowers her gently against it ignoring the wound in his side and the stretching of his skin as he does so. Some of his raven hair falls over his shoulders as he positions himself perfectly over her petite frame in a position intimately familiar to the both of them.

Flashback

_Alucard renews the kiss gently with much care in a feather like touch so very different than the one just experienced. Seras's light sigh offers him permission to continue. His body molds against the shape of her smaller frame and for the first that night Seras's left hand cups the entire since of his face not just the bare minimum of flesh during simple contact. Her fingers place light pressure against his cheek as her lips grow in strength and boldness and mimic every move his expertly make; her body burning within from the blood she's taken. Alucard's left hand trails down the shapes and contours of her body from her neck down her shoulder, chest and abdomen until his fingers reach the remainder of the crumpled cape around her hips. The long, elegant appendages leave burning marks in their path as they skillfully trace her skin until they reach the outer line of her thigh and then move all the way up to her bent knee. Once there he allows his palm to spread out wide over the highly sensitive flesh before trailing back down again. Their hips lock perfectly to another. Nevertheless, the hand doesn't abandon its post but stays there and continued to massage the ever warming flesh in easy up and down motions. _

Flashback end

Up and down, squeezing and releasing…

There was no further need for past remembrance when the present was so much better and far more real and intense. At first fragments flashed inside her mind, but they could not hold up to the actual touch he was inflicting upon her willing body.

The many plates of muscles rippled against her fingers and flesh despite the small obstacle that was the fabric of the bandage coming between them: the path over strong, broad shoulders; the path between the blades and down the line of his spine, up his side then down and over his hip all the while squeezing and grasping the heated and scarred flesh utterly at her mercy. She moves he follows, he moves and she is not far behind. And as they moved together, the blood continued to course through her veins warm and gentle at first before it burned with a flaming passion.

Seras's eyes could barely open enough for her to see yet time and time again his face was always there in front of her shining with a beautiful light so pure and true. The light beard touching her skin still felt a little out of place and yet, every rough touch was soothed by the softness of his full pale lips. Her hands could not let go as they continued to move back and forth with absolutely no space left between their bodies.

He trusts and the kiss shared is broken. The smallest of gasps escapes her as her lips part, her head tilts backwards and he was compelled to follow her movement with his own body as not to lose the close proximity between his mouth and hers. Her hands clenched his as he firmly yet gently took them from his body and held them above her head pushing into her body with slow and gentle trusts. Her body arches ever so slightly and two fresh crimson droplets roll down her temples following their predecessors, eyelids opening halfway.

Her head fell back into place in the dip of the soft pillow with parted lips, glazed eyes burning with life, love and yet to be shed tears waiting to be unleashed into the world. The vampire's raven hair mixes with her gold as he stops hovering over her body for a moment studying her face with great interest and wonder. He squeezes her hands in return and the pads of her fingertips brushed against calloused skin that shortly suffered the presence of ancient rune designs glowing brightly before they faded into nothingness just as fast as they appeared.

The rhythm of their hands matched the gentle sway of their hips up to the point when he dipped his head and captured her lips in a smoldering kiss that could hardly be compared to the scorching heat and tightness of her once innocent body. The inner sides of her thighs cradled his lean hips in the same manner her calves did his long legs as the vast majority of his weight was distributed between his elbows and that all too crucial juncture between their bodies. His mouth tasted hers in a slow and tortures pace he had, yet to break in favor a more ravenous one. Still, the angle was eventually changed when she began responding more and let out a sensual moan, her breath hitched in her throat. His broad chest restricted her movement, but let sufficient room for her to breathe and writhe so deliciously lost in the throws of passion beneath him. His gaze locked onto the twin pools of freshly drawn blood before him and, for a second only, he attempted to stay as still as possible and simply linger in her presence and savor each and every fragment of it. Passion burned so strongly between them as hot as freshly drawn coals from a pit of fire without them actually having to move a muscle.

The vampire closed his eyes and pressed his mouth firmly over hers in powerful and meaningful kiss then tilted his head to the right as to deepen it and to part her lips as skillfully as only a master such as himself could.

Seras responded immediately by parting her lips in a silent plea as her spine arched up again and again trapped in the fluid and flawless movement. Her left arm managed to break free and roam up his right side taking firm hold of the curve of his shoulder, nails digging in, as she breaks the skin and the kiss and presses her right cheek into his left. She moans out loud sensually, eyelids dropping all the way as he pushes into her deeper, harder, longer. Vlad's mouth dips to devour her throat in hunger, lips so eager they branded each single kiss into her flesh in a rhythm to match that of skilful hips.

Every muscle in his body tensed in preparation and anticipation of that all consuming moment: abdomen tightening against her flat stomach while the curve of his spine and both his shoulder blades protrude to a greater extent from beneath his ivory white skin as he curves his back and hovers in a more predatory fashion over her as if ready to devour her in one gulp. The muscles in his biceps contract as he used his arms to propel himself back and forth, to pull her down a little more and to push into her more firmly. Her thighs pressed hard and hard into his lean hips relentless in their need to keep them joined.

"Master…." Seras sighs into his left ear, her breath a gentle breeze running through wavy raven locks. The arch of her spine and neck doubles as he drives her closer and closer to the edge. Suddenly his mouth no longer pays homage to the bare flesh of her throat, but full and raw lips as his kiss moves to her mouth drowning out any other sigh, moan or sound whatsoever. It was a kiss that broke and reformed time and time again allowing them to breathe and pant as his right hand finds her left cheek anew tenderly cupping it while her left rakes over his shoulder and upper back before distributing the rest of her attention to his spine.

Her fangs lengthen in the process brushing against the fullness of his lips in an act itself prequel by a deep throaty moan on his behalf and followed by the penetration of such raw, fragile and thin flesh along with the flow of fresh warm blood into her mouth and powerful a thrust of his hips. The liquid drowned her tongued in its rich flavor and Seras cried out, but her voice was muffled by the pair of lips holding her prisoner and ended up being a beautifully long and passion filled moan.

Their kiss broke as a particular intense wave crushed into Seras's body making her push up hard against the large frame above her and exhale long and loud against his face as he moved his head over hers so that his chin hovered over the partially exposed underside of her jaw. They remained aligned enough to have both their eyes locked on their lover's despite his forehead being a few cm higher.

Alucard's eyes held her captive in so many ways it was hard to pinpoint the exact emotion swirling within them when she was starring so helplessly into deep blue pools of water. They cried out to her in a manner that went beyond the heightened lust and passion they oozed. A third layer lay buried there, so powerful that just by looking, brought forth a fresh batch of crimson droplets from the corners of her eyes. The vampire leaned in to kiss the underside of her jaw just under her chin before moving over to the right arch of her cheekbone then up to the side of her nose and her closing eyelid before returning from where he started all the while caressing her other cheek with his long fingers. His thumb moved over her parting lips and chin and gently pushed the underside of her jaw forward. Their lips rejoined with only the passion and dedication a starved soul could posses for the food not seen in ages. And when that too lastly reached its ending…

"Seras…." It was his magnificent baritone voice that effortlessly pushed her over the edge. The coil inside her body could go no further and it broke and shattered with such intensity it took her with it as her final arch was limited by the weight of his bare chest pressing down on it in a counter move as every muscle he owned tensed and hardened under the feel of her fingers and tightness of her frame. Her scream was anything but silent.

.

A thin layer of sweat accompanied the ever present throbbing in his side, throbbing now made worse by the sustained effort as well as each and every breath he took. The sound of his own heart echoed loudly along the tattered edges of the uneven wound as he'd exercised far more pressure on flesh barely sealed while utterly lost in the feel of his draculina's body. The edges had been ripped open once more and the bandage around his abdomen was now a dull crimson in color over the site of the wound itself meaning that the blood had partly coagulated despite the few patches of much fresher and redder blood as well as the newly dripping rivulets from under its edges. His chest was heaving as the urge to breath harder and faster felt like a necessity in order to alleviate some of the pain and discomfort if not the throbbing itself. Ironically, it only made everything worse trapping him in a vicious circle.

His face was buried in the back of Seras's neck, warm breath caressing the nape of her neck, while her tiny body was protectively cradled in his strong embrace as she lay on her right side in front of him with her head on the small and simple pillow they both shared, her face half buried within its depths and his chin resting on top of her head as the difference in their height made it all the more easy for him to curl his body around hers and still have her fit so perfectly against him. His chest was to her back, their legs entwined and 1/2 way covered by the sheet which mostly lay crumpled over the edge single person bed with a good part of it hanging over it. She had her left arm drawn up to her chest and the right extended in front of her so that her forearm hung sideways over the edge much like the sheet while his held her securely around the waist without fail. With the scorching heat of passion gone she felt as good as an ice back against his feverish skin: cold, yet soft and pliable instead of rock hard.

Neither slept despite their eyes being closed, but only one had a heart beat that echoed softly in the silence of the room when there had been two to begin with. Seras's heart was as still and quite on the inside as she was on the outside with no beat and no movement of her chest whatsoever despite it having been so wild in its endeavors no more that a few moments earlier. Her golden air was gathered somewhere between them, the pillow and her right shoulder so that it left the entire left side of her throat bare.

Vlad slowly opens his eyes when the back of his left hand, trapped between her right and her chest where the uneven scar still lay, no longer felt the fading rhythm of her heart. Bit by bit it the latter had grown fainter and fainter and the intervals between each individual beat longer until they stopped altogether. She was finally as silent and still as a vampire should be.

Sighing softly he breaths in deeply shutting his eyes and grimacing in pain from the movement of his chest and subsequently tightens his grip around her waist pulling her more into the hard plains of his chest. He can feel a fresh trickle of warm blood sliding down his abdomen from one of the more soaked parts of the bandage. The wound would require a second closing which meant cauterizing it once again.

The effort endured succeeded in reopening it fully and now, when the adrenalin and endorphin levels dropped in his system, the pain returned with a vengeance.

Closing his eyes he groans and breaths in deep taking in the scent of her long golden hair and thus attempting to ignore the discomfort within his abdomen a moment longer. Regrettably the breath comes with an intense stinging sensation which can not go ignored any longer. And as his right arm was trapped under her waist he let it there and bent his forearm raising it and distributing some of his weight on his elbow. His fingers brush her side before they spread wide over her hip slowly tracing its slender curve and the line of her tiny waist settling into the small dip it made in the middle. As he gently removed his left arm as well, he pushes himself up on his elbow a little more until he partially hovers behind her and is able to inspect his wound without having to let her got. He barely has time to press the tips of his fingers against the wound and soaked material when the faintest feather like touch appears over his right shoulder just under his clavicle surprising him. His head turn without fail only to meat Seras's crimson eyes starring back at him, eyelids barely open and a sleepy, tired expression on her face. The position is somewhat awkward until she turns a little into his embrace so that her right arm has more room to move and the back of her head is able to rest against the pillow. Her fingers move down ever so slowly tracing each and every inch of skin and muscle blessed enough to cross the path of her feather like pads. She only lowers her gaze from his deep blue eyes when her fingertips reach the middle of his ribcage and brush a stray strand of long charcoal hair hanging over his other shoulder and ending just a little under the middle of his chest. Yet as she was about to reach for it a second strand caught her attention. It was shorter than the first and hanging over his forehead and calling out to her ever so gently. Blinking once she takes her time in entwining her slender fingers into the delicate strand, twisting and turning, while their owner sits and waits patiently looking down at her with half lidded eyelids framed by thick dark lashes. Once more there are no words between them, not even as she brushes the fateful strand behind his left ear. With her task complete she lets her fingers return to his face and traces the prominent cheekbone and the short, rough hairs of his beard. Every touch is tender and feather like and every mm committed to memory as the entire portrait of his handsome face becomes her virgin canvas and her fingertips the brush that paint it. His forehead follows and she spreads all of her fingers wide over its entire surface before carefully letting them glide down the front of his face and over his closing eyes. The tips of his lashes brush her palm in the process seconds before her hand actually starts to move ever so carefully. Her palm follows the path set by the bridge of his nose as her thumb and pinky move downward along the edges of his face and the arch of his cheekbones before slightly curling inward when reaching the corners of his mouth. Her remaining three fingers follow the path formerly set by her palm: the middle over the curve of his nose while the index and ring finger brush his closed eyelids. His lips are full, moist and hot against her skin, but most importantly, they weren't still and instead caressed the palm of her hand twice: the first when her palm first touched them after dropping from down from his nose and the second just before the base of her fingers touched his lips. When done only her index and middle finger remain to further sample the softness of his lips and trace their length.

It is a gesture they had shared before and seeing the knowledge of it reflected back at him in her eyes brings a subtle, yet genuine smile to his lips.

He leans in, once again ignoring the pain in his side, and latches his mouth to her pulse point planting open mouth kisses on the small sensitive patch of skin beneath her left ear. Though his teeth do nothing but graze her skin teasingly, the tips dull and posing no threat, her own have no choice but to react to the delicious touch and lengthen in response passing her bottom lips as her neck arches further into the welcoming warmth of his mouth. Her eyes shut and her lips part in a sensual moan.

Vlad cups the right side of her face with his left hand moving to hold her small right cheek in the cradle of his large palm while pulling away from her tempting flesh as to breathe into her ear, a hoarse and deep throaty exhale that caused her entire body to quake and press itself further into his touch. However, the moment doesn't last when he suddenly feels the hesitant brush of her fingers against his heated flesh beneath the hem of the bandage causing the muscles in his abdomen to tighten and attempt to pull back form the sudden touch. The pads were gentle in their exploration, but the tips of her nails felt sharp and as such a threat that compelled him to try and avoid her touch further. He hadn't even felt her left arm move to begin with much less felt it slide alongside his chest and side as she searched for the bandaged wound.

The corded muscle in his abdomen tightened further the more her hand moved drawing away from the draculina's fingers in sheer reflex despite the pain it brought him from doing so. He succeeded for about a few inches increasing the space between them before feeling the sharp edge of her nail prick his skin just under the wound itself. It only takes a second for her hand to subsequently curl and cut off the offending bandage which then fell from his body to pool around him. The former coagulate blood posed no threat doe to the somewhat significant amount of fresh crimson leaking out of the cut, a 3.5 inch long and diagonal cut surrounded by red and inflamed skin in every direction, which prevented the cloth from sticking to his skin and thus cause further harm when peeled of. A darker rim separated the edge of the wound form the inflamed skin while the latter itself occupied at least 2cm in diameter. Doe to the cauterization the edges had started to close and form new skin only to be torn apart not long after.

The warlord groans tightening his grip around her while attempting to stop her left hand at the same time by grabbing firm hold of her wrist. He fails as Seras's hand already finds his skin once again and places the cradle of her palm directly over the wound. Coldness spreads from it almost instantly as though he were being subjected to the cool and soothing touch of a bag full of ice water. The sensation spreads until it engulfs the entire cut as well as the skin around it putting a gradual end to the pain, discomfort and rhythmic throbbing. The cooling sensation spreads throughout his entire body killing the fire that had been raging inside and quelling the fever that had began to grip him. The harshness of his breath decreases and every new breath no longer brings him pain, but the pleasant feel of her palm against his abdomen and the way it oh so slowly moved over his muscles circling the cut ever so gently.

His eyes had closed in reflex from the moment her nails had pricked his skin expecting the pain to come and torment him further, but it never did. There was only the cool and sensual sensation of her fingers tracing the plains of his muscles which had him keep his eyes close and just enjoy. Because of that he never noticed the slightly different colored blood coating her hand and mixing with his. They only opened when Seras retracted her hand slowly pulling it away with crimson dripping down the tips other fingers before being absorbed into her body. A long cut marred her the middle of her palm, a self inflicted wound, yet that too quickly closed without a trace. All that was left of his wound was a faint pink line a few cm wide that continued to heal.

The draculina was gone and all he could see in her place was the white of the sheet. He had but a moment to take it all in before a new weight settled behind him over his back and right side and her fangs sank deeply into the crook of his neck on the left side. Once again he had failed to notice her movement while pulling away and circling his body so easily and silently like a large cat stalking its prey in order to get as close as possible before pouncing.

A golden curtain of silk fell to cover his right shoulder, arm and torso as she settled more comfortably over his back and sank her fangs even deeper piercing the jugular and cutting the muscle in her path with great ease. Her left hand held his left shoulder, nails sinking it the more she drank, and the right was wrapped around the base of his throat coming to rest on the opposite side and over the dip on his left shoulder.

Seras greedily drank without stopping. With each taken gulp her lips would clamp down hard on the side of his throat around the incision point allowing the blood to gather before actually swallowing it. Her tongue coaxed the flow by massaging the area around the two matching marks and her fangs repeated the motion of retracting and then sinking in every few seconds as to prevent the wound form closing.

Vlad's eyes widened at first, surprise within them as she leaned over him so intimately without warming, but became half lidded in the long run the more blood she took from him. He groans lost in the feel of the sensation, neck arching and giving her more room and pressing back into her each time she bit down. In less than two minutes the young vampire succeeded in riding him of more than a pint of his blood. And just as quickly as the whole ordeal began it ends with the sound of her voice in his ear and the feel of her tongue sliding against the column of his throat as she pulled back.

"Seras…"he calls whispering her name when he can no longer sense the weight of her body on his and the fell of her soft chest against his hard back. He blinks twice struggling to adjust his eyes to the dim light once more before sitting up completely on the bed. His head falls forward as if limp and groggy form the lack of blood and his long raven hair obscures his view of everything around him like a thick canopy curtain cutting off all light so that one may sleep soundly and in peace. The sound of his own voice seems weak in his ears and barely there as he brings his left hand up to his injured throat in simple reflex. Rich and warm crimson liquid coats his fingers as he moves the pads of her fingers over the two distinct puncture wounds. Blood trickles down his chest, shoulder and back in thin rivulets as it seeps out of the fresh wounds.

Soft lips brush against the left side of his face as crimson irises glow a vibrant red. Vlad catches no more than a glimpse of his bloody fingers before his view is obstructed by shining yellow hair. Seras's right hand takes hold of his left wrist pushing it away from his body as she settles back onto the mattress in front of him. She cradles the right side of his face with her right hand for a moment before moving down the column of his throat and around his shoulders supporting the back of his head. At the same time she moves her own head down pressing her left cheeks against his. Her lips find the underside of his jaw brushing her fangs against it as tilts his head backwards, eyes closed and lips parting in a silent sigh and an expression of pure bliss written all over his face. It is in that moment there that her fangs sink back in rekindling the blood flow. Her grip tightened around him, but as she brought heir joined hands together her hold on his wrist looseness allowing him to break free of it and grasps her left hip and subsequently her waist smearing it with his own blood.

Seras feeds of him a second time, but this time the more blood she took the more the subtle the change in its taste became against the tip of her tongue. The long wavy strands of his raven hair started to straighten without her noticing taking on a slightly different look while the light beard and moustache vanished leaving behind smooth pale skin. The set of eyes that reopened were now as red as the blood she was ingesting and as sinister in their appearance as the hint of his fangs peering from under his upper lip as he sketched a wickedly satisfied grin. The nails on his fingers grew becoming sharp and pointed and almost breaking her skin open over her hip and waist, yet all those changes immediately reverted as she let go of his throat licking of the excess blood with a few sensual swipes of her tongue.

"Little one, enough." He hoarsely whispers and his lips brush the shell of her ear. Seras obeys without fail, but does not pull away just yet. Instead her lips continue to hover over the juncture of his shoulder and throat and eventually latch onto his skin sucking gently.

"Draculina…" He whispers sensually despite the hoarseness of his voice. Seras remains silent at first, but then her lips part and she whispers back as if afraid a far louder sound would ruin everything.

"Yes my master?" it comes as silent as a hummingbird's wings.

"Time to wake my little one." He tells her gently pushing her away until their faces were able to meet. A thin rivulet dripped down her chin and her lips were coated in a beautiful crimson lipstick.

"Why?"

"Pentru că trebuie." The pitch of his tone lowers and the look in his eyes turns serious. (Because you must.)

"De ce?" her question earns her a soft and gentle smile. Finally, she can understand him again and he can hear her understand him. (Why?)

Leaning his forehead into her he replies. "Trebuie să mor şi eu." (I must die as well.)

Images fill her mind, but they are no longer as those that came before. This time it was a field, a vast and empty field filled with the mark of death.

Flashback

_The day was coming to a close, the sun setting halfway and engulfing the entire sky in beautiful orange light that seemed to enhance the crimson of the blood soaked soil. Crows filled the branches of nearby trees while men hung from them like ripe apples ready for the picking. Some hung loosely while others continued to kick in a vein and desperate effort to free themselves from the suffocating pain of death; other had long since given up the fight. The dead outweighed the living, but even the dead would serve a final purpose to the scavengers hungrily awaiting their due. _

_A path leads up a lone hill where a solitary black tree stood tall and proud near the sight of execution. One man walked that path, his long hair cascading down his bare back and bare feet trotting through the crimson soaked ground. His pants were tattered at the ends ending a little above his ankles while both his wrists and head were trapped in a wooden frame.__ A silver cross hung around his lean throat._

_Hundreds of men all dressed in the same kind of uniform stood lined up forming a path on either side of that exact path. Their weapons were raised with some of them still dripping blood. Even more bodies lay on the ground, all dead and continuing to stain the soil with their seeping fluids. Limbs were torn, head detached, they were the lucky ones._

Flashback end

"You've see this before." He says in a deep and dark voice as the blue of his ocean colored eyes momentarily shifts to bright crimson red. "When my world was clouded in flames and darkness, you saw of all this before."

Seras's grip around his shoulder tightens and her head lowers, eyelids shutting tight, settling in the crook of his neck where she'd bitten him not moments before. "Anderson."

The name suddenly throws her mind in a sea of brightly burning flames and spiked vines circling both her body and that of her sire as all she can do is look into the face of what once been a priest and a man of God; a monster now.

Her own voice was shouting 'master' time and time again…

"God's will is for us to fight draculina." the immediate sound of his voice forces her eyes open as she recognizes those very words. She had heard them before; just as she'd seen those very images long ago once upon a time. "To fight is to pray and to truly pray one must fight. Prayer upon prayer upon glorious prayer and God shall descend upon from his heavenly realm. All this," he closes his eyes leaning into the top of her head with a tired sigh. "All of us miserable retches."

Flashback

_The soil was blackened all around the base of the tree and platform by the amount of violently spilled blood and looking down she could see her own bare feet soaked in it. Every bit of the platform was stained in fresh crimson blood the majority of which still dripped down the length of the black wooden handle of the executioner's sharp ax. Many more bodies littered the soaked ground all around said platform. The man's eyes stared emotionless at those next to him. _

Flashback end

"All for a salvation that never came, all for God that never cared. Everyone died, very last one: men, women and children. All, even this pathetic self."

Flashback

_The black haired man stood knelt in the middle of the platform while another opened the lock of the wooden device freeing his hand for a moment before quickly rebinding them behind his back. Once done he took hold of the mass of raven hair and slammed his head against the wooden floor of the platform. Not once did the prisoner struggle against them. _

_It was then that one a fairly large individual dragging a bloody ax behind him came up walking towards his newest victim. A wicked grin appeared on his lips as he began laughing and raised his bloody weapon ready to strike. The sharp end of the axe shone in the fading light of the sun despite the heavy layer of crimson liquid coating it._

_The axe came down the very next moment, quick and merciless ready to uphold its end of the deal. The prisoner, however, instead of just lying there waiting for death to come take his life, move his head towards the pool of crimson laid out before him. Both his body and soul struggled with the decision, with all that blood laid out before him in a still warm pool that would soon bare his own as well. Strands of messy ebony hair covered half his face as he leaned forward hesitating a few times until he found the courage to defy death and just reach for it. He opened his mouth extending his tongue toward the liquid in question. He managed to both touch and lap it up seconds before the sharp edge of the axe came crashing down merciless on the skin of his neck spilling blood and cutting through the long raven locks, skin and bone alike and finally embedding itself in the wooden boards of the platform._

_The force of the blow caused his hair to rise and surround the murder weapon before cutting them along with the string of his cross. The latter was shattered to pieces, the longest of which detaching itself from his body and landing the farthest from him._

Flashback end

"And yet despite everything." His voice became a vanishing whisper against her ear. "If you keep walking forward and renounce it all…"

"Master…" she calls crimson tears dripping down her face as though they were a newly born river unsure which path he should take. Her hands held his head desperately begging him without words to **stay**." A dragon's wing will only take him so far." As he speaks a small, tiny black tendril moves up her left arm tying the crimson ribbon she thought lost around her wrist. "But if he does not jump, they will ground him up in chains and imprison him in the very light he'd always worshiped." The knot was tied so tightly it gripped her wrist as though it were his own hand which then traced it with the tips of his fingers just a second longer. His eyes bore deeply into hers. "He remains deep underground like the roots of an old tree forever linkedto the soil of his birth." His lips brush against the shell of her ear a one second longer as he turns away from her eyes and the tone of his voice becomes dark and demanding and his fangs graze the lobe of her ear.

"Pleacă!"(Leave!) He demands, yet Eras is unmovable to move and shakes her head in refusal. She barely has time to manage a shake from left to right when she's suddenly and rather forcefully pinned to the matters of the bed with his mouth on her throat and his fangs ripping though her flesh as he bites down hard and brutally.

Darkness swallows her mind as her scream pierces the room like a dagger hitting its target without fail.

There is nothing but her scream…

_To be continued…._

Till next time, bye, bye.


	21. Chapter 21

Next chapter's up :)

Thanks to all who reviewed and I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 16**

With a powerful scream Seras's body jolts into life, eyes snapping open and displaying a frightened expression consumed by torment and genuine pain as she finds herself in an unknown room sprawled out on the blush canopy bed while wearing the same ripped and tattered nightgown. There was nothing but darkness all around her, pitch black, and utterly devoid of life. She sits up panting desperately for breath. She's confused and harboring an incredibly painful headache as pain still lingered within her chest, a dull yet constant throbbing and her eyes failed to adjust to the darkness immediately upon waking causing her more distress once the heavy scent of her own blood surrounding her filled her nose. The sheets were soft against the bare skin of her arms and legs, but the fabric of the nightgown was wet and filled with dried blood and clinging to her chest and sides. The scent of blood, her blood, filled her nostrils almost like a suffocating blanket.

Her fingers grasp the sheet beneath her so hard her nails cut through it with great ease. Her eyes finally blink, but as they close the repeated image of the axe's sharp bloody blade coming down flashed in her mind causing her to scream yet again in pure agony while tilting her head back all the way so that her forehead touches the sheets and her back arches up from the mattress beneath her. Her fangs peer out from behind her parted lips cutting her plump flesh as they extend. The entire castle shook with her sorrow filled cry.

Eventually the sound of her voice died down and the counters of the room slowly began taking shape: than walls, the canopy, the shadows slowly moving up and down the walls like fine dust particles; the flicker of light catches her attention from one of the parts of the room. It was nothing more than a crack on a distant wooden surface and no sooner it calls her body bolts out of bed running towards it despite the heavy weight her own body felt like.

Her hands pressed against the structure with force pushing what in reality were two wooden doors open without stopping and kept moving forward until her stomach hit the stone railing of the snow covered balcony on the other side. Her head and chest went over it, arms on either side of her upper body bent at the elbows and feet ankle deep in frozen snow.

"AHHHHH!"

She screamed as loud and for as long as her lungs permitted until her body fell almost completely lifeless and numb against the railing. The warmth of her breath came out in the form of small white puffs one after another. Somehow the shouting helped ease the massive headache ravaging through her skull. She managed to get up, head held down and eyes shut tight. It took a few more moments, but when she finally did open them, she acknowledged herself standing in daylight high up in the breathtaking Carpathian Mountains. Strands of white blocked her vision, yet she could still clearly see the vast mountain range in the distance between them. The many, either naked or snow roofed peaks, surrounded by pure white clouds which moved ever so gracefully in the morning wind. Deep mist covered the valley below and the lower structure of the castle. The white blanked sparkled and shimmered like crystals in the sunlight. The winter morning was cold, the sky pearl white and the castle's outer walls coated in a shimmering white blanket. The view was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hhmm." She whined bringing her right hand to her forehead in an attempt to further calm the pain and remove the troublesome white strands obscuring her view. Unfortunately, not until she began pulling, did she realize they were in fact strands of her once yellow hair. The former gold like color had been replaced by a far whiter one than the snow beneath her feet similar in color to stardust.

A strong gust of wind had her shut her eyes not long after then turn her head and take one step back. Her long, stardust colored hair danced all around her uncovering her skin and presenting it to the warm light of the shining sun.

"Where am I?" her voice was still raw and broken from the harsh scream and she had yet to find the strength to speak louder than a whisper.

_Seras…_

_._

_._

_Seras…_

_._

_._

The alluring tune, as gentle as a child's whisper, called her back inside. The draculina opened her twin ruby eyes to look, but found nothing other than the open doors from where she came form and the dark, empty room starring back. The tattered and ripped mahogany brown curtains were spread out towards her like two strings arm offering a comforting embrace while swaying silently in the current.

.

_Seras…_

.

There it was again. The same voice, the same gentle allure.

"Wait." Seras replied before starting to move in its direction, towards the calling and welcoming darkness. The fabric of the curtains seemed to have a mind of its own as it reached out towards her like a pair of transparent wings. The air all around seemed even colder than outside as the so called arms spread out wrapping themselves around her frame with gentle movement and great ease.

Her eyes could not see much through the darkness of the room despite the light shining in from outside, but what she could see looked liked a liquid seeping off the walls, infiltrating the cracks and drowning the stone tablets. And just like the thin fabric surrounding her it too got closer and closer to the point of hovering just a few inches above their head.

Seras gazed up at the unknown presence running her eyes over it and steadying her breath until her lungs stopped and her chest grew silent. Their pull was gentle and it wasn't long before the two wooden doors shut tight behind her bare feet as soon as she set foot in the darkness.

.

.

The figure of a young girl stirred within the confinement of a reddish brown coffin unable to rest. The sun had recently set ushering in a new night, yet despite many daylight hours spent attempting to sleep she still felt utterly drained from recent rather unsettling events. She pushes the coffin lid open without a sound and sits up letting the light of her room wash over her. She wore a dark green long sleeved top with black pants and had her short hair brown in a rather messy style giving her lack of proper sleep and the restless day she had had.

"You are still troubled." Her master's voice reaches her causing her to turn her head to the right and spot the elegant vampire sitting in the armchair by her vanity table. Through the events of the night in question had already passed Madalene could not bring herself to forget so easily. The room itself wasn't overly big, but it had beautiful decorations and elegant pieces of Victorian style furniture. Thick caramel colored curtains framed the two large walls of her room letting the night air and light seep through. The vanity table held an oval shaped mirror and a few wooden jewelry cases on top of it and in its reflection was the back of the auburn haired vampire.

Her hair was up another elegant bun with several long, freed curls over her right shoulder. She wore a simple yet elegant dark blue gown with a corset over her chest and long sleeves parted in two just above the elbow.

After a moment of meeting her gaze Madalene lowered hers with a soft sigh.

"Yes my master."

"You should not. It should not be something to keep you in such distress."

"I know." She replies keeping her voice down and smiles though it is an ironic one. "I just forgot how the world works. How people work."

"Did a hundred years make you forget?"

"I hoped it would."

"No amount of time will ever change man's nature. We, as most vampires do, know that better than any new generation to come. Cruelty was always so much more _interesting_ in the past, though it to changes with the present and will continue on in the future to come."

"Why harm the boy?" Madalene asks turning her gaze back to her master. "If they are truly priests and he an _angel_ why…"

Elena chuckled placing her left elbow on the surface of the vanity table and leaning her head into her open hand.

"Angel is too strong a word I should think."

"Why? We exist."

"We do, yes. But we don't come out from a phrase in a book as he did. At least not to my knowledge." She smiles. "It is an easy question to ask, but difficult to answer. And I have none that would make much sense at this point."

"Does it matter," Madalene asks before she briefly pauses considering her words more carefully. "That they cut his wings off?"

Flashback

_The angel's cries tore into the young vampire's ears with utter ruthlessness as she forced her eyes to lower from the carnage in front of her. The scent of blood immediately assaulted her nose as she picked up on the sound of the broken appendage hitting the frozen, snow covered ground. _

_"Blasphemy!" she hears Heinkel shout in anger before preceding to stomp on the freshly made wound grinding the heel of her boot against Walter's back. _

_"And intolerable!" She repeats the motion whilst also twisting the broken wings anew relishing in his cries. Hidden in the distance on the very rooftop of the manor over the opposite wing to the infirmary, Madalene stood hidden behind the brick body of the chimney watching the entire scene unfold from above. He house was on fire burning brightly and violently illuminating the night sky and even her very position had it not been for the shadow cast by the chimney itself to offer her adequate protection. Screams fill her ears from all sides of the large Victorian house, ashes, blood, snow and death…it soon overwhelms her forcing her to reach out for her master with a broken and fearful cry._

_**Stay.**__ Came the reply not a moment later and with it a comforting hand upon her left shoulder forcing her to turn around and meet her Elena's hidden gaze beneath the black hood covering her face. Only the lower part of her face bore witness to the light while the rest remained obscured by the shadow of the hood._

_"Ash to ash…" Heinkel's words echoes anew drawing both their attention. The thin strands of platinum hair falling in front of the raven haired teen seemed to shine in the flicker of growing flames as they swayed through the air in front of his face before touching down on the cold snow. "And dust to dust. And I have wondered…" By now they could see the other man approach the woman whose face was covered by thick white bandages that failed to conceal the sinister and satisfied grin marring her lips. Elena's grip on her shoulder increased telling her without words to stay put and wait as she tended to other matters and faded from sight as soon as Heinkel's laughter faded and she began speaking anew. "If I would get as much as a tear from you."_

_The screams that night would continue to haunt the fledgling vampire… _

Flashback end

"We'll find out." Elena replies bringing her right hand up in front of her chest; a card appearing within it: the Fool. Always new, always the endless possibility of existence regardless of what came before.

"And now my master?" Madalene asks sitting up from her coffin and crossing the room to take the empty seat on the chair in front of her vanity table and thus sit next to her master.

"I fear your questions about the boy's divinity or lack there of is the least of our problems." Her tone turns much more serious as dropped the card holding the Fool placing the latter onto the surface of the wooden table before her. "I can no longer sense the young vampire in his castle."

"She has gone?"

"She cannot. She is tied to that place however horrid and painful it may be. Leaving will bring her pain such as she's never experienced before. I fear," a new card appeared within her palm, the Ripper. "That regardless of how bright her Sun may be, the tower's shadow will eclipse its light to the breaking point." Placing the card down next to the fool she draws another, but its face is black and its image unseen. "He will ask, eventually he'll have no other choice but to ask. Blood holds life 'a mate's a vampire's lifeline', however ridiculous that notion may be. Though not in words and not in action, his life now hangs in her fragile hands and the **forgiveness** her heart will allow her to feel. Everything else is nothing but an illusion, one I fear he'll regret waking from when all is final and done."

As the black card touches its sisters the picture reappears, but it's a broken one: the lion bleeds and the woman lays in a pool of her own blood at its feet with the shadow of a ripper's scythe hovering over her throat. "Death will come, one way or another and not even _my_ master can change that no matter what he does or how hard he tries."

"I don't understand." Madalene tells her voicing her confusion.

"Sometimes," her very last card is the Sun: bright and shining against the piece of paper it was printed on despite the evident changes in the other cards. "Neither do I."

Flashback

"_This blood you have told me about, such a thing is…hard to believe." With the deed now done and Seras securely placed inside her coffin deep within the catacombs of the dark castle, Alucard and Elena walk through the barren courtyard heading towards the main gate in front of the bridge._

"_What it is matters not. It's what it does that poses the problem."_

"_Even we can't do such a thing." Elena snorted indignantly. "We hold the pedestal on manipulation, no one else can accomplish the feats we do, the changes we bring to the plate of existence. We make believe, we enslave and ensnare minds, senses, their very minds into believing, acknowledging a truth we deem worthy. But __**We**__ can not…"_

"_Just as we, __**I**__, can never step out into the sun like simple mortals." The vampire made his point in a very low tone, yet one that hinted a tad of resentment towards the sarcastic statement himself. "Our eternity is one of darkness with the moon as our sun and the stars as our guide, yet I have learned to walk the light as I do the night where as you must hide away beneath layers of clothing, the dark, that house." He paused, the small moment of silence adding mush more depth to the words he'd spoke. "I can exist anywhere I choose, go and be anywhere and everywhere I whish without needing to change anything about myself. A gift and a curse just as our own existence of this earth is." His voice was hoarse and his tone turned harsher for in truth, there was just so much any soul could stand in the raging current of time while carrying the heaviest of loads on already crumbling shoulders._

"_I do not understand then Vlad. You extracted it out of her, all of it?" her own tone reeked of suspicion. Was it perhaps the simplicity of the matter that had her fail in her deduction? Had he not removed 'all of it' as she'd initially thought? _

"_Yes." Alucard's reply came as quickly and as sharply as the tip of a dull sword into its intended victim; with the intent to kill yet failing to do so miserably. The word to roll off his lips was meant to reveal a plain and simple answer, however, the manner in which he spoke it revealed far more: __**Yes, I removed that blood.**_

"_There's more, isn't there?" Elena asked already knowing the answer. It was obvious from the barely noticeable twitch of his brow and the subtle clench of his strong jaw. It took the ancient master several minutes before finally opening up to his former lover._

"_I gave her all the blood I could spare the night death found her a second time. It has festered inside me for over 30 years becoming an intricate part of all that I was. And now it's in her as well and not just a small part. She'd never taken blood from me before, always refusing till the day I vanished." he chuckled softly remising the sad look on the young vampire's face whenever she'd declined his offer. "She should have easily accepted it, but instead her body could do no more than taste it. She went into seizures coughing it up along with an even greater amount of her own. I had to forcefully bind her to my strength and will to keep the balance she required. I was…" he pauses and his words echo like a twisting knife in a deep wound._

_**Take the blood Seras. Do not close your eyes and take the blood I offer. Please, please take it.**_

_"Seras needed more than a year to fully accept it and any amount no matter how small always brought her more suffering. No blood would do, she couldn't taste any without becoming violently ill again. I had to starve her for almost a year with nothing but the taste of my on blood on her lips." His tone became dangerously dark. "And now she has been given that lethal dose of poison again, the dosage needed to destroy her completely. She's so unbalance I can't hope to hold her existence together any longer. My draculina is facing her true death, a death that will undoubtedly come."_

"_Why?" the auburn vampire felt obligated to ask that same redundant question again and again despite it having been used to many times already. "Recognizing ones self comes natural to us. We do not to linger on that knowledge."_

"_No, we don't." Alucard confirmed her words. "But she does. Seras has never been a simple fledgling to begin with. She refused more than just her blood, but her existence as anything other than __**human**__ as well for a long time. She couldn't see anything else and I must admit I'm ashamed to have waited so long to properly notice. I was convinced, so convinced; she would eventually drink and embrace the gift I have given her. And when she finally did I thought nothing more about it, how foolish." He scolded himself while turning to face Elena and reach under the cloak covering her head plucking a hidden white lily from her auburn locks. He regarded the tiny, delicate white flower for a moment or two before crushing it in his large gloved hand and letting the broken petals fall to the snow covered ground before his feet. "The flower before she died, the ruin after and," He raised the bent stem still in his right hand while his other waved once over the discarded petals making them rise back up towards the discarded stem. The pieces took their former position around the latter and partially reformed the shape of the beautiful flower, but a persistent, eerie red glow continued to surround each and every petal like a steady lifeline. "And this is what lays before you now: like glass unfit to be mended and an existence unable to exist safe for that which holds it together. Yet to that," the glow slowly intensified in three places until the white petals turned completely black and their edges blood red. "I was forced to alter certain aspects and recreate memories while making her both forget and remember and cling to them so that she would not remember the incident itself and unbalance herself. I both destroyed and recreated her at the same time. Do you understand?"_

_That was what the vampire presented to the witch at the end of his long speech. She in turn was forced to gulp with difficulty as words came incredibly hard. Her crimson eyes had roamed over and over the tiny, yet highly meaningful visual offering Alucard had made. She watched until the delicate blossom withered away before her eyes, the petals drying up and detaching themselves, before laying utterly still over the surface of the vampire's open palm. A minute or so later he balled his fist crushing them; the sound came much stronger than it should have. Afterwards the black and white remains fell lifeless once again. "Do you understand?" Alucard repeated not at all please with the lack of reply he'd gotten from the witch. She in turn could only nod before tuning her head the other way._

_Elena remained in that position a good few minutes thinking things over and didn't react at all when the elder creature of the night settled beside and in front of her and placed his right hand over the ball of her exposed right shoulder lightly squeezing. It a silent, yet clear gesture of his demand for her to speak her mind._

"_What you desire for that child is both salvation and recovery. But you want that to happen beneath the layer of lies you have weaved to protect her. That can't be done." she tells him sighing while bringing her left hand up to her forehead and moving it up as to readjust the loose auburn curled strands hanging over it; she pushes most of them behind the lobe of her ear. "Is it you life you'll use?" _

"_Yes." He answers her truthfully before she even had a chance to put it in proper words._

"_You ask the impossible!" this time she felt forced to scold him as harshly as she could. Not only that but she pushed his hand away in a rather unkind manner as though the very touch of him repulsed her greatly. "What of that child is hers then? What have you not touched in any way?"_

_It was not something Alucard could provide adequate answer to. He'd had Seras's entire life at his disposal after draining her of blood and yet a small, so very small, part had eluded him all these years._

"_Her past." Alucard whispered in a softer voice. He stared into the woman's crimson orbs without blinking. He regarded them with such intensity and focus it soon became reflected in her as well. At that point he did not feel it necessary to reach into her mind and see how the wheels inside turned. An answer, her decision, had already been made._

_"And?" she presses on._

_"The first time I took blood from her I did not care. The second found me in too much despair to care and the third," he paused. "My hands are tied beyond measure."_

"_And what of your past then?" and then she asked it, the question he'd hopped to avoid during; the twitching of his left eye alone spoke volumes. "Would you be willing to share __**that**__? If she's bound to your will she's bound to your life. You will lose her consciousness if the two ever merge." Elena had to stop for a moment unable to stop the sudden, sarcastic, outburst of laughter to escape passed her lips. "Good God did you even think before doing it?"_

"_She was dying!"_

"_And what stopped you from letting her?" she shouts and her crimson orbs burn with a passion. "The ruthless beast does not care for a dying girl! You don not care, have not cared! You demanded compensation for helping me live!" she never once broke eye contact with him. "You demanded payment for a life, my own, just because you lifted one finger to help me once." _

"_Things change." Alucard with as much calm as he could muster through clenched teeth. "And it was __**you**__ that ultimately asked for __**the gift**__." _

"_I'll bet they do." Elena replied sarcastically. She breathes in deep allowing her senses to compose themselves before returning to the question a hand. _

_"If you merged her consciousness within yours she'll be lost completely. You said you killed all those souls, all of the just to find yourself in the end. How many does she have? How many…"_

_"None." Al replies giving her a solemn look. "none were inside to begin with and those were already lost the moment her mind shut down when the sword claimed her. Whatever remained was held by the smallest amount of blood she could take. And on the very stones of this forsaken place I had to feed her and watch as her body fought against it. Every gulp nothing but agony until she begged me to stop."_

_**"No more…." Her voice was beyond broken, body curled in the bed and sickly pale instead of the beautiful marble white her pale skin would have had. "No more…"**_

_**"Seras." He calls her name silently requesting and urging her to drink.**_

_**"N..No…"**_

_**"You must."**_

_**She never answers him back, but buries her face into the blood soaked pillow wrapping her arms over her head and curling her weak body into a ball as if to protect herself.**_

_Speaking he slowly detached his gaze from the auburn haired vampire and stepped closer towards the gate in the distance. The cool night air caressed his face while his boots crushed the blanket of snow covering the ground. And although the layer was thick, neither his feet nor he, sank into its depth, but walked upon it as if it were no more than a few mm high. The breeze swept his hair letting it move around his broad shoulders with the ever-changing current._

_"Then one day, everything was back to normal. Seras was just Seras. She started drinking, __**living**__."_

_"You mated her? Then?"_

_"Apparently. It was hardly my concern at the time, but…"_

_"You let her go." It was then that Elena's tone grew in depth as certainty took the place of what should have been a new question. That said her lips curl in a smile and she chuckles unable to hid both wander and disbelief from passing her lips. "What a fool you are. You have changed."_

_"We rise in the fall of others. I have told you this before."_

_"Yet not once had your __**conscience**__ ever demanded something of this magnitude before. Had it you would not be standing here __**praying**__ for miracles. You of all creatures."_

_"Yet once I too believed in God."_

_"So did I, but there was never a God for us. Nothing we did made him descend from heaven and stop us our own stupidity. Not even now." Walking forward she takes hold of his right upper arm applying gentle pressure to make him turn around and face her. And as she smiles it is soft and melancholic and her crimson irises reflect a piece of wisdom only the two of them could ever come to understand. "You have become the Fool in the strangest of ways my master. It is strange to have the Childe teach her Sire wisdom." As she speaks she brings up her free hand carrying the matching card within it. "The Fool's quests are many and in his haste the one he truly desires may pass him without knowledge of the fact. You must wake or find yourself the fool beside a crumbling tower."_

_"War has its risks little one." Alucard cups her right cheeks with his left had raising her chin. "And I cheated death before." He lens in placing a simple, yet chaste kiss upon her lips. The moment passes in silence between them._

"_I put her under this spell; her choices will doom her because of you."_

"_She knows herself and her name. That is enough matters."_

"_She knows 'Seras', what you call." Elena shook her head in denial. "Calling is not understanding nor is it knowing ones true self. Let her live while she sleeps. Make a lie or show her something true, it doesn't matter, just put her in a situation where she remembers who she is and what she is. Your draculina is a vampire like us, she needs to see that. Anything more lies in your hands."_

Flashback end

"Master?" Madalene calls noticing the rather far away look in her master's eyes. She'd gone silent for several minutes now playing with marred strength card. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Elena smiles placing the card still in her hand face down on top of the others. "I am merely considering my next options. I fear much will happen this night and not all well. But the child is under my watch so I am bound to look after her."

"Then would it not be wise for you to go to the castle master?"

"It would, but I cannot." She says rising from the chair and walking passed and behind her fledgling placing both hands on her shoulders. "I must see to other things as well. You will go in my place."

"Must I?" Madalene questions with hesitation in voice.

"Feed first then make yourself ready." Eelena tells her slightly gripping her shoulders a little tighter. "My intention isn't to endanger. You will go and see what is happening and report back. Do not engage her, do not do anything to provoke her and if anything feels wrong come back without fail."

"Yes master."

"Also beware of the large black hound. Alucard has left him to watch over the Childe, but I suspect something else lurks within those walls. I've felt it before, it's dangerous."

"You mean the familiar?"

"Yes." Elena smiles though her tone is filled with melancholy as if remising something from her own past. "The demands of that family have always been strange and _impossible_. And even so, the hound is not your immediate concern." She pauses and the crimson of her eyes reflects a dangerous truth. "**He **is something else entirely and** he** will not let you touch her."

"The Hound?"

"No, not the hound." Elena replies tightening the grip she had on the young fledgling's shoulder. "The devil in the flesh." She grins remembering that one moment back at the castle when in front of the bridge's gate with the raven haired vampire she had turned around to take one last look at the castle before crossing the gate and saw utter darkness starring back at her from a distant window of the castle; the darkness ablaze with two perfectly ocean blue orbs piercing her soul and watching her demonically from behind that thin layer of glass. "The devil within that man."

"May I _not_ go master?" Madalene aks concerned by the look still lingering in her master's eyes.

"You must and I must let you." Elena replies gazing deeply into her eyes and offering her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "He is my master above all and I must obey."

.

.

Seras's eyes opened once more to complete and utter darkness in the same room it all started from. This time, however, she had enough state of mind to take her surroundings in first and let her eyes roam over the uneven cracks in the ceiling and the many rips in the fabric of the once blush colored canopy which now had a dirty, faded and dark grey color. The walls fared no better, the bed frame broken and the balcony door she'd walked through…or had she?

Had she really…gone?

Groaning she sits up pushing herself on her elbows though her body more or less protests against the movement, the muscles sore and her joints stiff. She moves her left arm raising it just in time to notice the ribbon slipping off her wrist. Grabbing it with her right she starts to retie it, but stops midway lost in though for a moment, eyes locked on the small bangle and the symbol etched into it. **The dragon…**

A whine caught her attention next, soft and gentle, yet there was nothing in the room with her. The castle was silent, eerily quite for that matter.

Dropping her hand Seras sits up, yet as she does so bringing her knees up to her chest, several thick locks of silvery white hair fall forward over her shoulders catching her attention. She hadn't had time to examine it before, but looking at it now and treading her fingers through it, it felt more than a little strange to her. Despite it being white just like her skin there was still a clear distinction between the two, more so when brought up to the deep crimson of the long, silken ribbon wrapped several times around her wrist.

It is then that the same whine comes again, much stronger than before, and a large black hound steps out of the darkness, eyes red and ablaze as he takes on step after another until its final one causes a dent in the mattress. The wolf's head leans forward and his cold, wet nose touches her right knee. His ear lay back and his tail slowly sways from side to side.

"I know you…" she whispers softly petting the left side of the hound's head with slow and gentle strokes. Baskerville whimpers in reply leaning his head further into her touch. "Where's master?" she asks, but before anything more can happen the hound abruptly pulls back, ears erect, and turns his head around emitting a low pitched growl from the pit of his lungs. The sheer intensity of the growl sends vibrations though the castle wall.

His claws scratched at the stone floor sensing a foreign entity enter the castle grounds. He bolts from the spot clawing the floor and leaving deep indentations in his place.

"Wait!" Seras calls out reaching out for the large hellhound, but the ground beneath her as well as the bed transform into a big black hole that swallow her up.

She falls with a cry…

.

"Hello?" Madalene called out into the otherwise quite night air as she cleared the second, spiked, door leading into the vast courtyard. Not a single footprint disturbed the tranquility of the snowy blanket. As she made her way across the grounds of the castle and towards the main entrance she couldn't help shake of the feeling of someone watching her every move. Her ruby eye scanned the highpoints of the structure, the towers and pathways leading from one wing to another. Each time she turned something snuck in the corner of her eyes like a dark presence, a moving shadow, following her relentlessly. Still, she had a purpose; her master had been quite clear on the subject. She just needed to go in and search, it shouldn't be difficult right?

Strengthening her resolve she took a deep breath and continued forward. Clearing the flight of stairs leading up to the large carved doors she came to a halt after the very last step and took a moment. The sky above her seemed restless as though a storm was on its way. Flashes of light broke through the dark grey clouds every now and then, a rumble after each one. The cold temperature made it seem strange that such a storm could take place at this time of year. Then again, this wasn't exactly a normal place to begin with. The eerie feeling hadn't left her at all, if any, it only got stronger the closer she got to the main door and stepped in the castle for the very first time.

"Hello?" She asks a second time pushing one of two twin wooden doors aside and stepping into the great hall of the ancient castle. The massive door creaked when opened, the hall was bathing in darkness and the sole occupant other than her was the gust of cold air passing beneath her feet and around her, accompanying her as she entered. The curtains hanging above the windows were all torn and ripped, the colors faded from age, much like that of the once beautiful carpet slithering up the main staircase; it too had suffered greatly. Both the cold and the darkness were as unappealing as the weather outside and, yet not as uninviting as the sense of dread washing down over her from the very moment she'd crossed the bridge. And all that time she knew nothing of the multiple pairs of eyes following her every move with the utmost interest.

Touching the stone balustrade with her left hand she look up and to the sides searching for any sign that someone might be there.

"Hello? I'm here to…" scanning the room she thought to have seen something from the corner of her eyes, a shadow moving against the walls, but it disappeared before she could fully appreciate it's nature. The main door closed on its own banging loudly as the twin sides met filling the hall with their reverberating echo. Madalene gasps in surprise immediately turn around; the room itself seemed to be getting darker…colder….

"I'm here to…Elena sent me look after the o…" the rest was left unsaid once the low rumbling sound of a deep growl reached her ears; shortly after her eyes lay witness to the birth of the large hellhound as he emerges from within the darkness and slowly walks alongside the upper left railing. The black of his fur stood out with ease despite the dark color of the stones making up the castle, it was a black that shone as if glistening in soft moonlight instead of the dull and lifeless color of everything else around him. The hound's movement was slow and deliberate, the growl low and protective, and the irises blood red and carefully watching. The tip of muzzle stuck out as he scented the air, his ears were up and alert, and the sharp fangs shinnying despite the darkness.

Then, just as she though he would attack her, the wolf disappeared back into the darkness and a door creaked somewhere around her, but she paid it no heed. The same growl came again taunting the young vampire.

Madalene calmed her thoughts and strengthened her resolve once more, but did not take that first step up the stairs towards the second level of the castle. Instead she turned form it and slowly paced back towards the door with careful steps. She barely made it halfway when the floor beneath her feet started to shake forcing her onto her knees. Without warning something hard slammed into her form the front sending her flying backwards and into the door itself pushing it open forcing the hinges at an inverted angle and successfully breaking one on each side. Her back hit the front porch and the white of the snow became visible. For a brief second she caught a quick glimpse of a black shadow running over the pure snow before it too vanished like a trick of the mind and nothing else. Her eye widened at seeing more than just her footprints marrying it this time around. They were distinctive in their shape, the pads and claws extending from each tow, wolf prints.

A piercing howl pushed itself into her core as soon as the echo died; then another and another before the distinctive growling of several wolves took over forming a beautiful symphony that prequels the beginning of hell. The sound echoed loudly as the stone slabs crumbled to pieces. The left side of the north wall fell first and a few moments later the entire structure along with the main tower holding it together. It all crumbled in large sized chunks which then got smaller and smaller as though the wind rubbed of layer after layer until there was barely anything left as evidence.

The ground shook violently and with it the castle began to crumble. Two high pitched howls caught the fledgling's attention not seconds later and her eyes finally landed on the two large wolves came out of the shadows on the other side of the courtyard. The blackness of their fur mixed well with the so far still standing walls, but stood out like a sore thumb once their paws touched the virgin white snow. They were closing in, shoulders down and muscles tense in preparation, scenting the air and growling as they closed in. However, it was the ungodly screeching howl and falling rocks from above that had her look up despite the upcoming danger. There, several feet above her head, stood the largest of the creatures, the same one she'd seen moment's before: Baskerville. Its teeth were bared and lips pulled back all the way, ears tuned back and slightly sideways. His body leaned over the edge as he made good use of the strength in his claws to keep himself suspended in such a dangerous position. What's worse, two more appeared on the nearby ledges. He had caused enough of a distraction for the courtyard creatures to move in quick and disappeared from her line of sight. They growled regaining her attention but as she turned nothing was there other than the disturbed snow and their prints which led to her very position. The ground cracked open where the former northern wall once stood tall and proud as a powerful quake overcame the entire cliff the castle was built upon. Madalene fell to her knees due to its force unable to hold herself up any longer. The lead wolf raised his head and howled. It was long and the tone used deep and distracted the young fledgling from further observing her surroundings. The ones on top jumped down from their perches while one of the two already in the yard attacked her head on by crashing its body into her left side and thus shoving her back inside the now unstable structure. The others followed through the door surrounding her within seconds. None of the wolves had bitten her and Magdalena quickly recovered, got up and jumped out of their circle just as the chandelier came crashing down on the very spot she occupied. Her inhuman reflexes were the only ones that saved her.

The metal shattered from both age as well as the force of the impact and just as the final piece stopped moving over the stone floor every window in the hall broke and shattered as though an unknown force had collided with them from the outside sending various sized pieces of sharp glass inside. At this point the vampire no longer waited for things to happen and instead used her speed to evade the oncoming attack. The three doors leading away from the main hall were closed and as she had no time to check if they were actually locked or not. She therefore headed for the main staircase and the wolves followed without a moment to spare. Taking the left path she ran through the stone archway and across the long hallway leading from it. Reaching the end of the hall she passed straight through the closed door and kept on going.

One of the wolves following her crashed into the remains of once many armored suits lining up the two sides of the hall as he took the abrupt curve the vampire had taken second before. Unlike the fledgling, being much larger in size and having a heavier bulk, he slid over the floor and remains of the carpet the moment its front paws made contact with the dark green edged fabric. The creature crashed into the awaiting metal and wall behind it. The rest were thus fortunate to have the obstacle cleared before following her. The closes wolf behind the leader dug its claws deeply into the cracks separating the stone slabs from another and used the momentum to propel his body forward and slam into the door at the other end once he reached it. The violent impact shattered the metal hinges and sent the door crashing into the side of the tone wall. A third wolf jumped not only over the recovering one on the hall but the second one as well and headed straight up the small flight of spiral stairs hidden behind the door in question. Their strategy was simple but quite effective: intimidate and chase till they prey couldn't go any further. If one fell another would take its place and the hunt would continue. All the while the alpha kept his distance patiently waiting for the right moment to strike as ordered. The girl kept moving east, north-east towards the forbidden rooms and that would not due.

The castle continued to deteriorate. The entire north wing broke apart. The stones holding the walls together separated one after the other while the ground holding the foundation could no longer support its massive weight. The main part of the castle as well as that particular side of the grand structure rested on the cliff's edge with the bridge connecting it to the cliff directly opposite while the rest maintained its connection with the main mountain. It had always been the more dangerous side due to its hanging position over the deadly ravine, yet at the same time more secure exactly because of that strategic location. Even so many things took place in the span of six centuries passed; especially after the vampire's almost complete abandonment of the place once called home. The vast amount of blood spilled upon its grounds formed a unique connection, a bond capable of allowing the manipulation of its very structure down to the smallest of rocks. Unfortunately, that connection could no longer sustain the strain put upon it by the binding ritual; the blood could no longer act as mortar and hold the pieces together nor could the shadows maintain the illusion of splendor and grandeur the castle once so proudly displayed centuries ago.

By this time the fleeing vampire had changed her path for a third time and was now running across the makeshift bridge joining the decaying north side and the forbidden east side together; the three wolves on her tail. She would have reached the next door if not for one wolf biting her left calf after the second one jumped onto her back, claws extended as to embed themselves with ease into her flesh. All three beings crashed into the closed door in front of them shoving it open. A distinct crack was heard before their bodies hit the floor with a loud thumb. The door had been locked and the girl's shoulder broke due to the intense force of the impact. The last wolf jumped over her and turned as she fell forward, claws circling within the flesh of her shoulders as he did so, and the jumped away to land before her teeth barred. He'd used his weight to push down upon her even more than the first creature had. Just then floor split open just like the rest of the side walls did. The crack formed beneath Madalene's torso but grew to fast for her to have much time to due anything other than free her leg from the wolf's grasp. Using her freed foot she hit him hard over the eyes, her heel successfully blinding his right eye as it pierced it on the second try. The wolf howled in pain releasing her immediately and backing away in pain. Blood trickled down his black fur as she penetrated the fragile organ, more so once the creature pulled away.

Just then the entire half of the high tower fell backwards as its base crumbled layer after layer. Howling wind struck her face the very next moment, the void created sucking in the surrounding air. Her body fell forward to the point of dangling in mid air as she managed to get a firm hold on the remaining floor with her good hand. Her dark brown hair moved as one with the violent wind while in the distance a raging storm gave birth to vicious lightning and raging thunder. For a terrifying moment she forgot all about the wolves around her as her wide ruby eyes stared down at the crumbling remains and the breaking cliff. The tower crashed into the right wall of the main north wing room, the master's room, breaking it with ease. The heavy rocks pushed all the way through; the act itself causing the upper half of the cylinder shaped structure to curve and turn sideways in its fall towards the cliff's rim. The rocks destroyed the tile ceiling, the inner and outer balconies, everything nearest to the edge. Every single remaining window broke, shattering into thousand of pieces. A massive lightning bold cut through the air right next to her before mashing against the already damaged ground. The side of cliff along with the majority of the north wing collapsed into the dark, murky depths of the abyss below.

The unfortunate wolf, the same to have jumped her, fell along with the dying structure its howling joining the destruction's echoes which reverberated in full force across the entire valley. The floor beneath them tilted downward pushing her forward towards her doom. The same terror inspiring howl reached her ears seconds before a much larger body pushed her off the edge completely.

"Ahhhhh!" she screamed plummeting to her death. The fall was four stories high, the bone in her leg crushed by the creature's teeth in one single bite, and creature's body followed suit a moment longer before he diapered into a mass of shadows blown away by the vicious wind. Her keen sight saw the jagged rocks at the bottom of the ravine, saw her death come fast and quick….then….another hit to the side had her propelled back into the very base of the former tower before she could pass the edge of the cliff and the point of no return. She crashed head first into the thick double wall jut before catching glimpse of the most terrifying set of ruby eyes she'd ever seen. Fortunately, her head didn't make actual contact with stone as a black portal appeared in the very last second sucking her in. And when her eyes reopened she met the cracked ceiling of the main hall once again. She lay in between the broken bits of glass and crystal pieces one belonging to both the windows and chandelier. The farthest wall to the left was halfway caved in, the two doors leading up to the dining room broken and the wooden boards sticking out at unnatural angles. Should she pass through she would discover the collapsed ceiling revealing the room above, every piece of furniture destroyed from the weight of the slabs as well as the height from which they had fallen. There were the remains of living chairs, dressers and even a medium sized bed scattered all over the piled up block, rugs and sheets ripped and ruined almost entirely from the impact. The main staircase had lost it intricately sculptured balustrade more than halfway down the right side while glass lined almost each and every step.

Ice cold breath hit her face again and again in tune with the creature's breath as it hovered over her ready to go all the way. Blood and saliva dripped from his parted jaws and razor sharp teeth while his hellish eyes pierced her soul with such intensity she could not move from the sheer fear they inspired. Baskerville's front legs were on either side of her shoulders above her head, the muscles tense to the point of sticking out from the shaggy mass of ebony fur covering it and claws deeply dug into the stone. He growled low and deep, a profound sound from the very pit of his massive chest as a few stray droplets touched her cheeks. Around them the destruction began to lessen, yet that was at this point the farthest thing from her mind. She was trapped, pinned down by a ruthless killer and completely surrounded. One by one the remaining creatures joined their alpha forming a deadly circle around the intruding vampire. Madalene was too frightened to move, too scared to even call out for her master's help. She just starred, stared into the twin pools of burning hellfire so ready and eager to due away with her pathetic undead existence.

The wolf lowered his deadly jaws, muzzle but a few cm from actually touching her skin when a voice spoke in a low and threatening tone: "Get out!" it demanded. With those two simple words it had her full attention, eyes wide and gasping out of pure shock. Her lack of response infuriated the wolf so much he growled in her face for a second time this time pushing a clawed paw onto the already injured shoulder to emphasize the unquestionable demand. He then sneered, an angry sneer quickly followed by those of his pack. All of them wanted her out. Again she failed to respond, but the wolf would not have it and struck without a second thought going for her throat. If not for the increased pressure upon her wounded shoulder just before he acted the fledgling would have most like lost her head then and there. Her survival instincts kicked in tenfold before the strike took place. Her body faded into black mist, the one defensive mechanism her master had taught her to use in such dire situations and the one move that wouldn't fail to save her life no matter what. She reformed a good distance away yet still remained in the direct path of the door frame to be exact.

The snow was cold around her feet. The part of the courtyard behind her was damaged beyond repair as most of the ground had been swallowed in the quake along with everything built over it. The large ravine separating the two mountain parts became even larger.

Despite it all, the main gate survived though its right pillar had been shattered rendering it useless. Not only that, but the bridge was nowhere to be seen. It had disappeared as well leaving only a small platform close to the shattered gate behind. A large part of the mountain side in which the northern half of the castle had been built was ripped from its source during the violent tremor and fell with its spike like bottom in the aftermath of the remains of the castle's walls and towers. The impact shattered the larger parts left behind as gravity pulled it down embedding it into the frozen soil. More than three quarters of it then broke apart before falling backwards to crash into the sturdy side of the heaven high rock. The other part maintained its vertical position reaching up almost two and a half stories high. The place of the stables was gone, eaten by the every hungry earth along with the other four small buildings which had kept it company till now. A vast vine shaped crack ran from the new edge of the cliff all the way across the courtyard to where the fledgling now stood, less than a few feet and the stairs behind her separating them.

The wolves encircled their prey taunting her to act out against them and make the first move. Several drops of blood dripped onto the disturbed snow from her fingers on each hand. She kept her left leg off the ground as she finally concentrated enough on the wound to have the bone reform within seconds. She regained her strength and her eyes lost their fear and refused to display anything more than the anger reflected back at her in Baskerville's own bloody irises; they mimicked it down to very last detail.

It as an act of sheer defiance and she had had enough. Her stalker growled in protest and closed in on the door, his pointed ears raised in a halfway turned position, upper lip curling back with each taken breath that produced a low pitched snarl. His right front paw touched the snow covered floor first before the rest of his body stepped into the blackness of the night to be partially illuminated from time to time by the many lightning bolts raging through the thick accumulation of clouds surrounding the last remaining tower. The ceiling was broken allowing the night to enter into the ancient castle along with the sound of the howling wind and raging thunder. Yet even they could not overthrow the sound of soft and deadly pads sinking into the snow and leaving their mark; each step became a new mark. He moved forward stalking her with grace and elegance and as he did so the muscles in his shoulders and lean body shifted while his tail swung twice then retained its raised and dominant position. Two more sets of hellish glowing irises, three in total, joined his own once appearing out of nowhere to flank him: the first the same wolf she'd injured and blind in one eye, while the other had been the creature to ruin her back with his claws. Madalene bared her fangs at the three creatures attempting to ignore all other sets of eyes peering at her from behind tones of ruble. The choir gathered anew, but it was still Baskerville's howl that rang the loudest, his chest rumbling like thunder during the harshest of storms.

"What do you want? What are you?" she demands of the creature before her gazing into its hellish and soulless eyes not sure if she should expect adequate reply in return. She then lowers her voice as if sensing something within those blazing irises. "_Who_ are you?"

Baskerville stares the vampire down turning his left ear to the side and swishing his tail slowly, tauntingly. He appeared as if waiting for something, perhaps _someone_. The wind picked up and with it the storm intensified and snowflakes grew in side and speed as the fell all around them.

"Answer me!" she demands whilst keeping her tone as neutral as possible. The battle appeared to have reached a stand still, at least for little while. And so she took a chance and spoke again. "I have to be here, don't you understand? I was **sent**."

Baskerville growls exposing his canines, curling his upper lip and revealing his sharp fangs. He walks forward one step at a time tainting the pure white snow with his large black paws. His shoulders were tense and his body high strung and corded ready to strike at any moment.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Madalene answers her own question. Afterwards, seeing that the large wolf wasn't about to stop any time soon she began to back up taking a step to match his every one. The hound's claws grazed the snow as he walked cutting it before his paws sank in under the weight of his body; his chest continued to rumble. The fledgling had more than outstayed her welcome.

"Have it your way."

Making good on her words and her speed she made no foolish attempt to fight something she knew nothing of and had never encountered till that night. She turned and ran as fast as her long legs could carry her, but the devil hound was on her heels not a second later from the instant the soles of her feet lifted off the ground. The chase was short lived and ended at the very edge of the cliff with the fledgling vampire disappeared in a black portal only to reappear safely on the other side, beyond the bridge and the ravine and out of harms way.

Baskerville on the other hand continued to run forward until his jaws almost made contact with one of her arms and even after her reaching the edge of the ravine. He pressed on and continued despite running out of solid ground beneath his feet. He had missed her by a tenth of an inch and the inertia of his movement propelled his body forward over the edge of the cliff the very moment his jaws clenched shut on nothing but thin air.

His upper body bent backwardly over the uneven edge until his front paws met a small rock formation protruding from the rest of the cliff below and gave him the necessary support to hold onto and sink his deadly claws into despite hanging over the edge at a dangerous angle. His head immediately shot up into an ear shattering, ferocious howl that loudly echoed thought-out the gorge below and the mountains all around before ending it in a hoarse and vicious snarl.

Somehow, it even succeeded in finding a way into the vast underground dungeon system below beneath the castle's foundation. By then it was nothing more than a light rumbling sound echoing off the damp, cold and musty walls like the sound of dying flute.

.

Madalene's simple 'hello' as she entered the castle awoke something deep within the darkness of the dungeon and twin crimson orbs fluttered open to a strangely familiar sight. The main structure of the castle was the same with the exception that it was colder, darker and uninviting; isolation at its worst. And the squeaking of a hanging chain dangling high above her head and visible thought a collapsed part the upper floors sounded worse than scratching a chalkboard with a sharp, rusty nail. The five sizable links moved from left to right while dangling in a semi circle capturing Seras's full attention.

The white haired draculina lay on the floor gazing upward while the dark mass which had swallowed her up earlier continued to pull back exposing more and more of the room around her; it lay in ruins much like the rest of the castle as the structures had crumbled under their own weight above the ground. Following the line of a large crack in the wall opposite from her it led her five feet high along the wall and then two more feet in the other direction. More than half of the ceiling was missing as it lay crumbled on both the floor and in the pit itself. However, as she looked up passed its borders, Seras saw the remains of further rooms above her head. After a closer inspection they weren't just rooms but a prison; a prison that went all the way up towards the heavens above. At least it once used too. Metal grates stuck of from the collapsed slabs of stone, pieces of wood still clung to their joints and more than one chain swayed with the wind. The prison like structure rose around 6 more feet from where the ceiling ended, but it was only visible from her point of view as the rest of the tower lay in ruins; most of the debris lay no doubt scattered somewhere in the vast courtyard. The left side of the wall rose a foot and a half taller while the right barely reached one.

Despite all the violent rumbling, the falling walls and the quake of the building nothing seem to bother her. Nothing seemed to matter more than that dangling chain high above: back and forth, back and forth, back and f…

The room above was at least three stories high, its walls as well as the majority of the ceiling gone allowing the light of the dark sky and snow to enter and slowly sink to the floor beside her bare legs, over them and her short thigh high nightgown.

"A chain…" the voice that spoke was hardly a voice at all and more like a distorted tone shattered by the wind.

"Despair." Seras replied without blinking **remembering** where she'd last _seen_ that particular link of chain.

_This will cost you boy!"_

The voice echoed viciously around her and with it she saw a boy hanging from a rope and that very last link of chain not overly bigger than the remaining four. The tip of a whip cut through the air and the image was gone, as was the painful expression on the child's face. The stairs, the stairs were no longer there and the once small crawl space was just a hole, barely visible as floor she had once stood was missing.

Seras turned her head to the right raising her arm in the process and reaching out for one of the withdrawing black tendril and instead of fine black mist she found a somewhat solid mass, solid enough to grab and hold onto. Unfortunately, pain shot through her limb the very second she touched it, fast and swift, like the prick of a sharp needle or the sting of a bee. And it wasn't long before the tell tale mark of warm liquid trickled down the length of her forearm in the form of thin rivulet. The mass grew and shifted more beside her and then changed into the shape of a face, a small yet well defined jaw, chin and thin, pale lips; the rest remained hidden by a dark hood and the shadow it cast.

"The walls are cold." The voice whispers, thin lips moving, and she recognized it as the same voice from before. A speak of black peered from under the hood as though it were a stray strand of hair, but she didn't move to investigate it further.

"No their warm." She replies without thinking, without blinking, like a robot programmed to speak on command. "You're the one that's cold."

"We are as we were left." The voice pauses then whispers, tone of voice lowering. "Blood upon the floor. Nothing. No one. Death condemned to these walls, cold. And the chain **never** stops." It growls almost animalistic ally with that one simple word.

Seras's eye flashed an eerie and intense crimson that coincided with the midnight lullaby of the wolves' first chorus.

"No…" she whispers lowering her hand from the figure's head and instead reaches out around it towards the missing ceiling and sky above. There was no way for her to touch the dangling link and yet, as her fingers curled above her head, they did it to the feeling of bare metal brushing against her skin. The rattling came to halt. "It moves because you let it."

The calmness of the hidden figure vanished as the face contorted in anger, words bursting with anger.

**"We do not!"**

And after that initial moment of rage the voice as well as the figure calmed once more, yet the words spoken continued to linger on the edge of anger and resentment. "We do not. We can not."

The vampire stood silent, her fingers still entwined around the cold metal link. She eventually lowered her gaze turning it to the figure beside her clad in black. The second chorus reverberated off the walls and Seras let go of the ling lowering her hand.

"One cannot leave us." There was no shouting or screaming, but deep and well hidden fear, _longing_, _**alone**_.

"One must…"

The walls began to crumble around her and the stones came undone as the ground finally shook beneath her feet at a far greater intensity. A metal door eventually screeched amidst it all making its presence known in the darkness and gaining the white haired vampire's attention once the figure distanced itself from her. Sitting up she follows his movements watching as his feet thread through the layers of dust and debris and steps from the part of the floor that was perfectly level to one rough and destroyed cluster of fallen and uneven stones most likely form the ceiling above. The stones were all gathered in a pile, but instead of being sprawled all over the floor the majority of the debris was neatly packed and gathered in what seemed to be a hole in the ground.

The black hooded figure kept backing up until a set of stairs on the wall behind him also emerged, the railing completely broken and the first four stairs cracked with the pieces scattered.

"I've always hated that tower."

It was the first time that 'we' was replaced by 'I'.

_"__Father..." _

_The words were broken into a frail whisper, a cry that had once reached deaf ears and cruel, uncaring hearts. His cries reached deaf ears and were lost to the soul crushing silence of the pit and the metal sound of the large door closing behind them man in question imprisoning him, sealing his fate and ending his life as he knew it as though it were worth nothing at all._

_"I….have….no…._

_Just then the remaining chunk of the ceiling broke off falling to the floor directly in front of her, yet Seras did not move, her eyes clued to the pile of rumble laying at her feet. The red of her eyes swirled and she blinked the once haunted look away, dazed irises changing and the tiny black pupils growing and returning to normal._

_"Master?" she asks as though waking from a dream she never knew she was in to begin with. The falling block of stone never touched her…_

_Instead the pieces broke off landing loudly around and behind her cracking open the intact stone slabs of the floor while completely breaking those already scarred by earlier transgression against them. _

_**I've always hated that tower**_

The tower? Seras's head tilted backwards as she gazed up upward where _that_ particular link of chain slowly _started_ to sway once more.

_**Always…hated…that tower….**_

Seras gasps, recognition finally sinking in. Shock and misery…agony…filled her blood shot eyes until the flow of tears could not be contained any longer and the rivulets ran down her cheeks joining under her chin and dripping to the floor between her parted legs. The pit lay before her, four feet deep, blood on its walls and blood on its straw covered floor. She could see the room come to life: the blood, the screaming, people moving hurting others or defending themselves preparing for death. Stillness descended around the draculina surrounding her completely until she had the strength to avert her gaze towards the cause of her inquiry and move in its direction once more. Step by step Seras crossed the slightly elevated threshold just as the figure had; step by step the wide hole in the middle of the circular room came into view as she carefully made her way forward. It wasn't long until she found herself, literally, face to face with the objection in question; her body looms over the rugged edge as she stares down into the dark abyss below: bones littered its end, perhaps some straw and a dried up muddy looking dirt, blood most likely.

_Throw them in._

_No!_

_AHHHHH!_

It racked of death, its stench and that of the many liters of blood no doubly spilled within its confining edge, impregnated into the stone itself. The voices seemed to come live: fresh as though they were right there beside her, raw from endless screams and utterly hopeless regarding their fate. There was and there would be no salvation what so ever for them; they were resigned to the cruel twist in fate which would soon end their pathetic lives.

_**It hurts to leave…**_

The voice came back and this time she recognized it for what it truly was, the boy's, and not a distorted, unclear and distorted sound that only her subconscious had known to be true and had found the appropriate means by which to talk to it.

Her head jerked to the side, eyes falling on the broken staircase and the squeaking, rusty metal door at its top.

She stars walking forward, bare feet moving over the piled up blocks of stone filling the pit, yet each of the six steps it took to do so, filled her head with more haunting cries of those whose remains she was most like stepping on, those who'd found death at the bottom of the food chain, one step above hell.

Reaching the foot of the stairs she hesitated for a moment placing her right hand on a small part of the still intact stone forming the railing. Her other hand moved to wipe the bloody tears from her face, tears she only noticed trickling down her skin when the door opened a little more letting in a small gust of air. Her legs moved fast climbing the small flight of 10 stairs before reaching the platform on which the door then stood a little to her left. The hallway that opened in front of her continued with a dark stairway just a few feet away where the light of the night could no longer enter; it was worse than simply pitch black.

Scanning her surroundings a few moments more her eyes fell on the pit on last time and lingered there for several minutes….just staring at it. The walls around her were coming apart and yet she remained motionless and grounded on her spot at the top of the small staircase and next to the opened rusty door whose hinges continued to creek.

_Seras…._

The voice called her name as a thin black tendril encircled her waist without her noticing. It gently pulled her forward urging her legs to move and come along in the desired direction.

_Seras…_

It was such a beautiful sound. The way it so softly and lovingly called easing the sight of death and despair itself….from a cruel world that was left behind and a past forgotten never to be remembered by future generation that themselves would never see the light of day and instead drown right then and there held down by the weight and cruelty of those considered their piers.

The draculina's bare feet made no sound as she climbed up the darkened staircase, her eye allowing her to see perfectly despite the lack of a proper light. Blood coated the walls and blood coated the very steps she walked upon as well and yet, whenever the soles of her feet came in contact with the stone in question, the blood would disappear and the stone would age revealing the ages passed since that very crimson was spilled so long ago. The higher she climbed the less quite her steps became. Boots formed and her nightgown blackened growing longer and turning into a single, solid black mass that covered her entire body. And as it retracted her heels made first contact with the stone clinging rather loudly in the small space as the sound echoed along the walls and ceiling. Black pants covered her legs while a crimson shirt formed over her chest with a black vest reaching just under her chest over it. A silken black tie appeared next and twin belts over her hips along with a black leather coat that then quickly shifted into a long cloak and hood instead. The clothing came from memo and felt, once again, just right. The mass of stardust colored hair flowed behind her in evident contrast to the dark and rich color of the cloak reaching passed her ankles and brushing the stone structures. The hall led up to a second floor and corridor with two doors at the end, one in front and the other to her left. Taking a moment Seras weighed her chances before walking forward.

_Where are you going?_

The soft murmur stopped her in her tracks not one step after and the thin shadow around her waist which till then had never left her gently tugged at her waist directing her to the door on the left. 'Where are you going?' it called. 'It isn't the right path for you to take'. The voice whispered with actually offering a single word and yet, as the unspoken words caressed her mind she could not bring herself to forget the familiarity of said tone and that distinct and particular voice: a smooth, rich baritone sound always in a distinctive low pitch which, sensual with the lingering promise of more each and every time it was whispered; always caressing her ears whenever it was spoken. _This way….this way_…it would call over and over and the sweet sound burned and lured her in effortlessly.

Both hinges were loose, the upper barring more damage than the lower thus barely holding the door up. The latter was partially open and hanging crooked and ready to fall at any given time. It took two hard thrusts for it to give way and even then it only opened about a third of the way. A ruined statue blocked further movement. Glass lined most of the floor while bits and pieces of stone and dust formed a separate layer altogether. The somewhat larger pieces of glass cracked and broke under the weight of her steps as she crossed the small room with care. She stopped, however, near the archway leading into the adjacent chamber: a skeleton, partially hidden behind a small, ruined, dusty living chair blocked her path. It laid spread before her feet on its stomach with the left arm missing from the elbow down and the right fully extended above his cracked skull.

Ratty, worn out clothes barely covered it; a knife lay in between his broken ribs.

_Where are you going?_

Once more the soft flowing voice moved passed her like a whisper in the wind. The new room she entered in consisted of a large space split in two uneven halves by a wall and a large arch and was filled with various wooden and metal devices warm, rotten, aged and rusted with time. They littered the floor especially around the second half where a wooden table stood at the far end. The wood was so rotten the metal skeleton underneath shone through. Chains of various shapes and sizes, now mostly plain pieces of several links long, hung from the wall immediately adjacent ending in rusty shackles. A fire place lay barren of flame to warm it up decorated the opposite wall on the room, but the large assortment of metal pokers and long, thin pieces of metal gathered together in a wooden box beside it, confirmed it's purpose for something other than simply warming the room. The chamber itself was nothing more than an antechamber leading into a much wider space that held even more appalling instruments: several large metal cages, some on the floor others hanging from the ceiling and still harboring 1 or 2 skeletal remains from centuries passed. The most distinct object of them all however, was a large rack made from solid and sturdy wood as well as a second much smaller one propped up in a vertical position against the wall opposed to the former which took up the largest part of the room and lay in a horizontal position.

A simple wooden door opened revealing another narrowed passageway no more than 1 meter long that bore, unlike the rest, one single lit torch that lit up a second much wider hall situated parallel to the direction she just came from. The new path then forked a few feet later and a after 5-6 min more of walking she found yet another door, though this one was not only intact but also bolted down to prevent entry by two mobile metal bars that acted like locks sealing the door from the outside in.

Seras stared at the door for a moment unsure what to make of it or what her next move would be, but the tendril tugged at her waist once more. The way was forward no question about it, yet she still hesitated. The room all around was filled with so much death, death and blood upon the walls; there was so much death in that one room, so much she could somehow feel it as though it had barely just happened hours, if not days ago.

_Come little one…_

The voice was so much deeper.

_This way…_

A small side branch of the tendril broke of from the main body curling around her left hand pricking the pad of her left index finger as though it were a nail and drawing a little bit of blood no bigger than a dew drop. No sooner had her finger touched the middle of the door a reddish glow radiated from her finger filling the many cracks in the metal until all 4 edges were reached and then disappeared just as fast. The door gave of laud screeching sound as the locks clicked and the bars made a 180 degree turn before sliding upon. The door then opened and more torches burst into life: two on the left and 1 on the far end on the right behind what appeared to be a series of cells made entirely out of metal grates for walls. They lined the right side wall entirely, 4 in nr, before the later was then continued with a stone portion several feet long and an even larger portion made out of flat metal bars. All four cages held a sturdy metal door and all were empty except for the last, but even that one had nothing but dust and crashed bones within.

The total of 3 torches couldn't provide sufficient lighting to reveal secrets still remaining hidden within the darkness. It became the only place in her journey thus far that the vampire felt a sense of reservation towards, insecurity and dread. And so she moved passed them all and took that right turn she found by the last torch. The small corridor ended with a solid metal wall made entirely out of flat bars and a crooked open door hanging on only the lower hinge. Beyond it lay another series of stairs as well a second matching metal wall, this one almost completely broken on the right side from top to bottom. Weapon stands, old, musty, cracked and broken lined the subsequent walls though they were mostly piles of rotten wood and rusty metal bundled together.

One final door lay before here, partially open and encased in snow and ice at the bottom. Thus, more than two hours, after the disaster, Seras's feet found soft, ice cold snow beneath the soles of her boots and cold wind treading through her hair and brushing her face, and utter and complete devastation.

It was a room, but the ceiling was completely missing as were all four walls surrounding it with the exception of a small portion no higher than a foot. It almost looked like a column and not a wall at all. There was a small pile in what appeared to be the middle of the room and sticking out of the thick blanket of snow covering it. The stench of death emanated strongly from it and as she stepped forward her foot sank in passed her ankle almost tripping her had it not been for the shadow still wrapped around her holding her up. The ground was so much lower than the rest of the ground and the snow covering it made it all the more worse to see. The tendril was pulling her back stopping her from going any further. Yet she insisted and kept on going until she tripped once more three steps later and fell tripping over something solid sticking out of the ground; tripping over a human bone like a hand reaching out form the grave. A grave she just fell into.

_All of you, __**you will die!**_

Suddenly the room was completely lit and intact and people everywhere were screaming in horror. Blood splattered all around her from every angel, every person desperately trying to flee. Seras was trapped watching death unfold in its most brutal and violent form; no leniency and no mercy for any of those present. **They would all die.** Bodies fell one after another….a raven haired man amongst them moved his sword with amazing precision, left, right, turning, stabbing and swinging….they were all dying until finally the body next to the fireplace fell lifeless at her feet. The room was on fire as the bright light, hot flames and screams made it look like a scene out of hell itself.

And the man was there, just next to her, with his sword deeply embedded into his enemy's chest, straight through his heart and the tip scratching a deep grove into the wall behind him. His face was concealed, masked by locks of blood stained raven hair and marred by the sins of his doing as the warm red liquid dripped down his cheeks, chin and throat. And as he pulled his sword back, a trickle of blood following in its path, the victim fell lifeless on his knees then his stomach. His killer grinned, evil, satisfied: "Die…" he said emotionless before stepping on his head and smashing his skull.

"Hahhh." Seras gasped snapping out of the bloody vision. She immediately pulled her ankle free crawling to the side of the room where the column stood and pressing her back against the cold stone surface. Her breathing was irregular, deep breaths and searching eyes rapidly moving from side to side. When they finally landed on the decayed corps she immediately had to pull away from the sight of her foot on the crushed, dusty leftovers of the victims head.

_Where are you going?_ The sweet voice returned.

_What are you doing?_

"I don't know." Seras eventually whispers in sheer reflex answering the question. Her eyes never left the floor and the mass grave hidden behind a virgin blanket of snow.

_Come little one…come…_

She did lured by the softly pleading tone so full of patience and understanding. The tendril tugged at her waist gently helping her up, turning her gaze away from a deed forgotten throughout the annals of time. The night was still young and the courtyard vast. Besides, it would not be the last bloody sight linked to the ancient structure. It was after all a castle built in blood.

The path led from the eastern part of the castle to the southern one and finally towards the west were the door to freedom lay. The castle lay in ruins: the mighty walls broken and divided, the ground cracked beneath her feet, stone after stone slabs filling it to the bring all around the once sturdy foundation. The _tower_ was gone…

The courtyard was eerily silent and devoid of all life and commotion; there weren't even any more prints left from either wolf or man to mar it or the scent of blood belonging to the young fledgling or the wolves. There was nothing just an endless sea of white and black.

The castle was eerily quite as Seras took a few steps forward leaving the broken room behind and fully stepping into the vast yard. The wind hardly made a sound whatsoever despite seeping through and crashing against the fallen rocks littering the ground as well as playing with the edges of Seras's long black cloak.

Walking through the yard one step at a time she event came closer to the main entrance of the castle and the very spot where Madalene's blood had stained the otherwise virgin snow some time ago; the stain was light pink instead of vibrant red and barely visible any longer. The large twin wooden doors stood open to her left while further away in the distance to her right were the distant remains of the front gate and the bridge leading from it. And on the steps themselves in front of the broken door, lying on his belly, was the large hellhound with his front legs cross one on top of the other and partially dangling of the top stair and his head resting upon them, ears down and eyes closed. A thin layer of snow covered his midnight black fur and the warmth of his breath came out in the form of a tiny white cloud surrounding his muzzle with each silent exhale.

As if sensing her presence his ears perked up and he opened his eyes scenting the air and raising his head. He yawns loudly showing off his teeth and extending his long tongue before standing up and shaking the snow of his body. Afterwards he descended down the stairs stopping in front of her until his head was at an even level with the chest. He whimpers leaning his head forward and into her touch and the cradle of her awaiting palm. His nose is cold against her flesh and softly twitching while sniffing.

"You're still here." She whispers gently petting the large hound for a moment or two before her fingers slip through it as though the creature before was nothing short of a ghost. His body slowly fades before her eyes turning transparent as he whimpers a second time and his crimson eyes close, ears going down once again. His chest rumbled the sound low pitched, playful and fading as was his body.

In less than a minute the hound was gone and she was all alone, the wind caressing her hair.

To be continued….

Till next time. :)


	22. Chapter 22

**It's been a long wait and I do apologies for, but I'm finally done with the first part of my exams. the next chapter won't be thus so long in coming, I'll try posting it in about a week, but it may be sooner should I finish editing it. **

**thanks to all who reviewed and enjoy.**

**Chapter 17**

Meanwhile, the new night held more under her watchful gaze than the mere destruction of a once beautiful and ancient structure. Many miles away across the ocean and back in the city of fog the clear night sky blanketed a far different household.

"I still can't believe we have human under our roof, a vampire hunter no less."

"**The** **vampire hunter** you mean."

The two voices that spoke in hushed tones stood beside the closed door of said hunter's room. The first belonged to a young female vampire close to her late teens with short, pale blond hair, not quite platinum and the ends curled upward while the second was a male with short black hair and an elegant and thin moustache over his upper lip. The female, Annette, wore a short red and black pleaded skirt with silk, black stockings and high healed sandals, a white button up shirt with a black belt around her waist, a crimson tie and short, unbuttoned, long-sleeved jacket to match her skirt over it. As for her companion, he wore a dark blue suit, black shoos and a long-sleeved black shirt halfway unbuttoned revealing the upper part of his pale chest underneath the jacket. "You know what's going to happen, don't you?" speaking he brings his right hand up to his throat and gestures his head being cut off.

"Don't mock me." The pale haired vampire says playfully hitting him over the forearm. "She could hear you for all you know."

The vampire laughs. "You maybe little _fledgling_, but I've had my fare share of vampire hunters. I know what to expect."

"Fine, _master_." Annette raises her voice in indignation turning her back on him as though highly offended. The sole difference between them was a few short years as blood had already linked them for far longer than sire and childe; the older brother and the little sister forced survive alone in a world that had failed them…just as all other **true** vampires had suffered.

"Then why don't you go in and see what she needs, if anything." She teases him unable to keep the smirk off her face.

"Sorry love, but I'm not that gullible." Her replies taking hold of her upper arms.

"But you are obedient. Elena's voice put an end to the quarrel. She appeared not a moment later stepping out of the wall behind them. The dark blue gown she wore was accentuated by pale blue silken cloak over her shoulders and a hood which she took of in front of them. "Besides, this is my Covent."

"Yet I'm still not going in there. Places to got, people to snack from, you know love?." Ansell grins showing off his fangs. "Come along Annette."

"Yes _master_." The fledgling replies offering Elena one final look to which the vampire gave an acknowledgeable nod of dismissal.

"The others have gone, you'll be alone." She tells her taking than extra moment before following in her master's footsteps and disappearing into the night.

"Not for long." She whispers watching her fade from sight. Afterward she turns for the locked door and with a simple hand gesture unlocks it stepping inside. The room was dark as heavy drapes covered the windows keeping the light out. A dresser and armchair were propped up in the wall to her left as she entered and a double bed was to her right, within it a patch of short platinum hair sticking out from under the blanket and dark green comforter. To the left of the bed itself stood a small crib with soft humming coming from it.

Integra slept deeply, the movement of her chest barely visible beneath the layers covering her, as Elena walked up to the bed without making a sound and stopped in front of the crib. The sole sound to fill the room was the rustling of her cloak as the fabric brushed against the carpet. Reaching in she gently brushes the small infants left cheek with the pad of her right index finger. The latter twitches in response, but remains fast asleep nonetheless. Every odd had been against her and her start in life had almost come to an abrupt halt before she even had a chance to take her first breath. Now, a day old, she already appeared in far better shape though still small and size from being born prematurely. A few more weeks in the womb would have given her an even better start in life. Still beggars could not be choosers and life outweighed death even while born with a small handicap. Time heals all wounds and so time would see her recover and grow up beautifully.

And the events from the night before would eventually become a distant memory.

_Flashback _

_"Put her on the bed, quickly." The auburn haired vampire demands pulling the bedspread from the 4 poster bed and tossing it to the floor. At the same time a raven haired male vampire, his white shirt thoroughly soaked through in blood, passed her by placing the unconscious platinum haired woman over the mattress. She was well in hemodynamic shock from the massive blood loss suffered from both the gunshot wound as well as birth itself. Her skin was utterly pale and cold and her body barely responsive._

_"_ _Annette!" Elena shouts calling for a second helper as he own fledgling was busy with her own mission. The former came into the room almost immediately carrying a small bowl in her hands, a white piece of cloth over her left forearm and a vial with a reddish liquid inside while in the bowl itself was a light green powder with a strong and distinct scent almost completely dissolved in the liquid it swam in._

_"Do as I've told you." She tells the pale blond vampire turning from her after taking the vial and cloth from her hands. She then quickly addresses the male vampire as he moves to the other side of the bed._

_"Hold her down, but do not think to take any of her blood, the both of you. Or you might just die sooner than her." The next few seconds passed as a blur for the pale haired vampire who only had time to hear a set of muffled words coming out of Elena's mouth before a long sharp blade of a knife appeared in the latter's right hand._

_Strong hands held the woman down as her top was ripped from her upper body exposing the bleeding gunshot wound on her left shoulder as well as her enlarged abdomen while the wet piece of cloth was placed over her mouth and nose. The scent of the cloth was highly potent and kept her unconscious forcing her body to give into the already welcoming feeling of death. The numbness spread through her cells detaching everything from itself while holding onto the woman's life at the very threshold of death. Either way she more dead and alive and only death would be able to save them both. The once might knight was gone and the last traces of the woman was left at the utter mercy of three unknown vampires she'd never had any sort of contact of interaction with. _

_Elena used the knife to make a single clean cut along Integra's lower abdomen. Even more blood started to seep out of the knight's body once her womb was cut open and life all but lost her by the time the small infant was removed from her body and the cord cut with the same amount of precision. _

_"Her heart is barely beating." The male vampire tells her watching as Elena hands the silent child over to the pale blond vampire and then removes the cloth from Integra's face. Afterwards she takes the vial from the bed removing the cap with her teeth and placing it to Integra's partially parted lips as the other vampire tilts her head backwards by grasping her short hair with bloody fingers. _

_"Good." Elena's tone almost seemed heartless had it not been for the urgency of the situation. While whispering that word she draws a set of symbols over the woman's stomach then slams her hand over it making the skin beneath it glow a light shade of red. And as she then slowly removes her hand the light follows her before turning into a fine green mist and eventually a phantom limb matching hers in every way. It enters the knight's body gripping her struggling and fading heart as if in an iron grip. One beat came, then the second as the hand's ghost like fingers curled around the beating organ; the third never happened. _

_The flow of blood halters and a second later her lungs stop functioning as well, too exhausted to provide the necessary oxygen any longer. Integra's chest becomes eerily silent and her skin turns ashen not a moment later. _

_The moment is barely up when the infant's first cries fill the room for the very first time. The effect of the powder had been so potent it reached the baby as well as the mother, though not as strongly. The baby, a small little girl, cried as if already aware of her mother's fate._

_"Keep it quite will you." The male vampire tells Annette, his sensitive ears ringing most unpleasantly from the loud crying. _

_"Take her in the other room child." Elena interjects with a much calmer tone. "Bathe and clothe her then bring her back."_

_"Alright." Nodding Annette does as told and leaves the room. By now more than two minutes had passes since the knight went into full cardiopulmonary stop. Elena watched as she left before returning her attention to the raven haired vampire._

_"You too Ansell? Go change before that blood does something you might later on regret. "_

_"I'm not so weak as to suffer from it."_

_"But you are smart enough. Go." _

_The vampire in question nods while smirking then fades from existence. Left alone with Integra Elena balls her hand above the knight's chest into a fist and the reflection of that gesture is mimicked by the emerald green limb inside of her. It molds over the knight's heart more closely feeling its shape and structure and allowing Elena to feel it as clear if she were actually holding it herself. The outline of her hand began to glow red tightening its grip to the point of almost crushing the still organ._

_"Welcome back." She says while squeezing seconds before quickly releasing the death hold and extending her fingers spreading the reddish glow like a beautiful halo all around them. At the same time the phantom arm matched her movement with great precision and at the end of it released the still organ that took its very first beat after being shocked back into life. "Sir Hellsing."_

_Integra's lungs expanded next taking in that much needed breath of air and with them her chest rose and then fell repeating the motion over and over again as both organs slowly regained their function. _

_Her task complete Elena began sketching a different set of symbols over the woman's body from chest to abdomen which made the green limb emerge from her chest and then fade into soft green mist that covered her like a blanket. The small particles consume her body healing it; stitching up her lower abdomen, removing the silver bullet from her shoulder then closing all wound until all traces of the damage and suffering were completely removed. So effectively in fact that even almost all the traces of her pregnancy disappeared leaving her abdomen smooth and scar less. If not for the child no one would have thought her pregnant._

_"To the world of the living."_

_Flashback end_

"Getting hurt is not a sign of failure, but a test of strength." She whispers softly watching as the baby stirred once more as though attempting to wake from her slumber. However, the spell placed upon was strong and would keep in that state just like her mother until the right time came. It would keep them both from harm.

"Soon little one." She whispers in a gentle and kind voice meant to soothe the tiny newborn as she tenderly traces the shape of her plumb little cheek with her right index finger. "You'll meet her soon enough."

Perhaps, far sooner than that

.

.

The aftermath of the castle's destruction left a gaping hole in the night sky as the once mighty structure rose up high towards the heavens. Snow continued to fall as the wind softly thread through the strands of silver hair belonging to the vampire standing less than a foot in front of the broken gateway and bridge. Footsteps littered the ground behind lead leading back to the castle's main entrance. Her crimson eyes stared forward at the remains of the stone bridge, it too broken in many places and missing many parts. A hum hung in the wind each time the latter came in contact with the stones themselves; it was waiting to collapse any minute now.

_Where are you going?_

The words had never truly left her and had returned not long after the hellhound had vanished. And they seemed to grow in intensity with each step she took towards the gate in question. She had no answer for it, but she couldn't dismiss the sense of regret lingering within them. They were holding her back in a manner far softer than the cold metal wrapped around both her wrists and the long chain hidden and covered in the snow behind her. After several failed attempts to free herself she had the chains drop back down and simply chose to stand in front of the bridge pondering things over. Her chest too had started feeling _unusual_, heavy, a sense of dread alerting all of her senses…but from what? Why couldn't she go? Why couldn't she cross?

No one else was there. She was utterly and completely alone…she could feel nothing. Nothing at all and it was most disturbing.

"Let me go…" she whispers as though hoping someone might hear her, _someone_…

A different hum hung in the air beside that of the mountain wind. A hum that seemed to emanate form the very shackles around her wrists. They were warm despite being utterly cold at the same time, the more she concentrated on them the warmer they got. They didn't even feel like shackles more like soft hands voicing a silent request for her to stay. She can almost _hear_ the words they are whispering…almost…

"Let me go." She speaks anew this time pulling at her bindings and jerking her hands forward. The long chains rattle and cry out in protest of the straight once again inflicted upon them, yet remain relentless in their duty to keep her there. Why?

The voice had guided her outside only to abandon her when done. Why? What was the purpose of showing one the way halfway through darkness only to extinguish the small beacon of light giving them hope before that hope is even reached? Why torture so?

Tugging on her restraints makes them warmer to the touch and angrier as the gentle hum deepens…darkens in some way….But Seras is beyond caring any longer and her movement anything but gentle. She shuts her eyes turning around and jerks her right hand violently pulling on the chain hard enough this time to have it finally break about a foot's distance from the shackle and ricochets up in the air before landing on the snow covered ground in front of her. Her wrist bled from the effort and was almost broken in half. Pain shot through her limb like a bullet, but she didn't stop once freedom was in such short reach. She was almost there, just a little more. She no longer wished to remain between empty and forgotten ruins. She had to leave…she needed….

_Come little one…come…_

She needed….**_to find her master_**…

That was the force that ultimately drove her forward.

"_Let_ **go**!" she shouts jerking her left arm as well, yet by doing so she breaks the chain at a far shorter point that the first and the loose links slam into her head wiping it without mercy and cracking her left temple open. The limb had partially turned to shadow making it stronger and less susceptible to pain. Unfortunately, the momentum of her movement was too strong and it pushes her backwards causing her to stumbles and trip over the long black cloak behind her. She falls over the gate's threshold and no sooner doe her feet touch the ground beyond it that the discomfort within her chest starts to become unbearable. She's forced to grab it with her right hand and twist into the fetal position on her right side facing the open gate and broken pillars. She screams in pain curling her body even further. Her head felt as though torn apart and her heart ripped from her chest. Her hands fisted the snow as she struggled to fully turn onto her stomach and crawl back over the threshold.

It hurt, it hurt so badly.

Blood passes her lips as she chokes on a pain filled sob; it stains the white snow maliciously. More crimson leaked out of the corners of her eyes as she struggled to keep consciousness and weakly succeeded. The bloody fingers of her hurt right hand smeared the virgin snow while she reached out for the stone threshold coming in contact with the blood smearing blocks. She can barely move it hurt so much…it **hurt**…so much….

Seras falls exhausted and her limb drops lifeless just as the rest of her body does about halfway over the threshold. The icy cold feeling of the frozen snow beneath her was fading against the darkness rapidly consuming all of her senses.

_**You'll kill yourself….**_

Now finally….she can hear the soft lullaby…she can hear their words and the warning that should have stopped her...

Every syllable made the pain harder to handle and far more unbearable. Every word cut deep into her already bleeding heart. It was ripping her apart…

Her eyelids slowly rose once more blinking and the cold winter air whipped against her face. Nothing held her distorted gaze, nothing with the exception of a large pool of blood. She whimpered in agony clenching her teeth attempting to move just a bit more, but she couldn't. Her left hand clenched the fabric over her chest so hard the tips of her nail cut straight through her shirt and even pricked her own skin.

With even grater effort than before she somehow succeeds in pulling her legs up towards her chest and thus completely over the threshold ensuring every part of her body was out of harms reach. The frantic beating of her heart began, like that of a hammer relentlessly pounding against her ribcage, began to calm down once again working towards its goal of growing utterly silent once more.

Seras lay there on her stomach and partially her right side with her right arm outstretched and panting unable to keep her eyes open any longer. Moving away from the source of her anguish had brought only a small grain of comfort. She could not see the glowing symbols etched into the skin of her wrists fade and with it the shackles disappearing leaving behind deep bruises and severe burns.

Her face was entirely pain stricken as she lifted her head with great difficulty finally able to take one breath though her lungs did not require it. Her eyes adjust to the small yet constant stream of blood leaking from her eyes allowing the sight before to become increasingly clearer. So much snow….tainted in her own blood…

_Why did you cross?_

At first she thought the sound as a distorted version of her own voice echoing through her mind and the constant screeching sound raging within it. It was hard to hear because of it. She couldn't make out the sound of the howling wind from that of the snowflakes dropping and touching the blanket of snow all around her or even her own body moving; her own heartbeat fading into nonexistence.

But then, as something light brushed against her left hand and her heart took its last beat before growing silent altogether she heard it again more clearly; the same words, the same manner of speaking.

"Why did you cross?" a small pale hand turned hers over bringing her palm up and entwining their fingers together. Seras's head turns just enough to catch a glimpse of black sitting right next to their joined hands before slowly raising it from the snow it laid upon and meeting gentle blue eyes starring back from under a curtain of black bangs.

"Because…" he answers in her place tightening his grip on her hand with a soft smile on his lips though it pained him immensely to do so. His voice is but a whisper and though he refrains himself from saying anything else he doesn't have to and the silence that falls between them is nowhere near as heavy as it should have been.

The left side of his face was full of blood making his bangs as well as a few thin strands of hair on that particular side stick to his face. Only his right eye was visible and open as he sat there on the snow beside her while wearing all black with blood trickling down his bruised jaw and throat, his lips bruised from the many self-inflicted bitewounds and his bandaged left arm limp at his side. He looked just as he had in the dungeon…in the **tower**…after being savagely beaten to an inch of his life. All of that under the very soil of his birth land….his own castle…

And still he was there, holding her left hand in his right and _understanding_.

Seras closes her eyes dropping her head back onto the snow with an audible and suffering exhale. She started to move drawing on whatever strength was left in her limbs to help her up until she was able to eventually sit up right and stand in front of him, her back to the open gate, her legs under her and her left knee touching his right.

The prince's face remained obscured and bent and he made no move to stop her when she hesitantly raised her left hand brining it up to his left cheek. The tips of her black shadowy fingers had yet to reform completely. They barely touched his skin when he spoke up.

"It doesn't," the sound of his voice had her stop her hand as if she'd hurt him, but then he raised his head meeting her gaze, revealing the injured side of his face, and continued. "It doesn't hurt." His own hand let go of hers as he brought it up to his face. "Nothing hurts draculina. Nothing can. Nothing!" he suddenly shouts gripping his broken arm instead of his face just over the area that was broken. A tiny sound of crepitating bones followed for no more than a second, yet he remained silent of the matter and of the pain that immediately came. His jaw was clenched shut, lips quivering, before they slackened. "Nothing is left. You do not even k…"

Seras's lips silence him before he could shout again and further hurt himself both physically and mentally. She moved despite the sheer exhaustion and effort it took her to stand up and gently pried his right hand from his left forearm whilst keeping their lips joined together. The effort itself forced her to inhale deeply through her nose softly moaning from both the pleasure of the contact as well as the discomfort in her weary muscles. It was getting harder and harder to fell her body.

The kiss broke with a conjoined sigh and a short exhale on the prince's behalf as she hesitantly cupped his left cheek after releasing his left hand thus keeping his head in place despite his first reaction to lower his head once more. Her fingers slowly and gently peeled back the wet strands of hair covering his temple and eye revealing both the large bruise as well as the deep and bleeding cut inflicted upon him. His left eye was still shut, but once he opened it under her soft administrations the whole white of his eye was blood red from the blood vessels breaking due to the force of the blow. Not even back at the hot spring had his gaze held such raw emotion and intensity as in that moment there, but then, as she brought the tips of her fingers close to the edge of the wound on his temple, that same emotion seemed to disappear just as the blood cont to trickle down the side of his face.

"I'm so tired." He whispers while looking straight into her face and sketching a small and sad smile while leaning into her touch. "But I've gotten used to not feeling anything. You've seen everything you don't need to be told. I've gotten used to it, **the pain**. So much in fact that I eventually started testing my own limits, but never truly achieved anything till the day I died, the day changed. It almost became a game." As he spoke his tone was equally sterile and void of emotion concerning his own person. It held only the slightest change when he paused and the tone suddenly got darker and twisted when uttering the word 'fun'. "It was **fun**." The smile…it too changed into the sketch of an expression she knew more than well. It was a mere glimpse of something instinct told her was true, yet dangerous. "I could see it in others. See their suffering and relish in it, but it was no more than a simple inconvenience to me. Everything…" his jaw clenched while his right moved up between them settling over her now still heart. "Even a stake _through_ the heart." He could have said 'close' to the heart or even 'nicked' the heart. Yet the one he chose to say was 'through the heart', no more and no less. "When I had reached the point I no longer cared of what may or may not happen to me, but wanted to see myself above the rest none the less. Above the weakness, above the mob and distain of what it meant to be a vampire and all that it represented. **I was sick of it!**" he shouts clutching the crimson fabric of her shirt between his fingers." And I," The pause to follow is long and heavy and his grip slackens, a sigh passing his pale and bruised lips. "I _**lived**_."

Seras's eyes widen at the words spoken with more distain that genuine happiness over the accomplished feat. She can only stare as though looking at something no one had ever seen before.

"But you _didn't_. You couldn't and you were dying. And that fear, your fear plunging down my heart overcame rational thought." His voice hardened. "You **weren't** _allowed _to die."

It was in no way a request or a mere affirmation of the past. "Now you wish to die."

"I wished to see you." She whispers ever so softly brushing her thumb over his left cheek and thus some of the blood away.

"You are a bloody fool." He hisses turning his head form her touch leaving her stained fingers suspended in mid air. "You are still," he pauses anew burying his words back in his throat and whispering something else instead. "Such a child."

"I stay with my master." She breathes hoarsely against his moist and swollen lips so close she can almost touch them anew. The touch she offers is feather like and as she cups the other half of his face, spreading her fingers wide over his right cheek and turning him so that she may gaze into his eyes. She leans in slowly before placing her lips upon his coaxing them to move in a slow and sensual rhythm he refuses to partake in at first, but surrenders to her desire a moment later nonetheless as the sharp tip of a fang teasingly brushes against his bottom lip without puncturing it. Though the kiss started steady and slow in the beginning, slow soon became fast and burning with unspoken passion and the simple need to touch grew to feel and be held; _wanted_. They would part and rejoin playfully and wantonly neither paying any more heed to the discomfort both their bodies were in. Neither wished to let go and their kiss became hungrier and deeper, his sighs hers and her breathes his, just a touch more. Always just a touch more when it seemed as though they were about to part for good. Sadly, as all good things must come to an end, Seras broke the kiss pulling away and keeping her distance as Vlad involuntarily leaned forward as if to rekindle the flame before finally opening his ocean blue eyes to look at her once more. Seras's lips brush against the bridge of his nose curling up in a gentle smile that hided the unsettling feeling within her.

The taste of his blood against her lips was different. The rich and vibrant taste was gone, the madness and the constant struggle the latter had with power missing to such a degree it was like waiting for spring to come in an endless winter. The taste was blend and empty and…she could not sense anything that made up his mind. There was only a ghostly sound haunting the utter void she felt swirling like a black hole within him. It called _her name_ time and time again, over and over like a silent prayer no one would ever hear. Just like the shackles.

"Why scream?" she asks hearing as the sound increase in strength the more blood licked of her lips.

"Because I _still_ had hope someone would hear it." Walls within a prison had ears to bare witness to pain and suffering and the hopeless cries of those poor miserable, retched and unfortunate souls trapped and forgotten within its stones, but they never replied back or gave comfort in return. They were just as they'd been forged to be: cold and heartless. "Because I _hoped_ you'd finally hear it." His head lowers more despite still being cradled in her gentle hand and continued to do so until his forehead found the solace it was looking for while pressed against the middle of her right collarbone. The gesture was simple and the movement light and all of it a simple reminder of a moment once shared together once upon a time when her head had been pressed against his chest while holding the brown bear in her arms. The silence between them grew heavy as more time passed; it seemed like a bitter and endless eternity.

"Why are you empty?" she asks breaking the silence and embracing him pulling his head further against her mindful of his injuries and wrapping both her arms around his shoulders. Then a thought occurred to her, one formed deep within her subconscious mind; a thought that may shed some light on the situation.

"Master?" her question is followed by a short pause as the scent of his blood changes once again. It seemed forever changing as though battling itself within the small body of the boy she was holding. it was...so _human_...

The prince only hums softly against her turning his head a little to the right to ease some of the discomfort in his left side." Where's your coffin master?"

"I don't remember." He softly replies as he then raises his head to look at her and offer a question of his own. "Where's yours?"

"I think I broke it."

At that the young boy smiles and his lips curl against the fabric of her crimson shirt. "I think I broke mine as well." He pauses for just a second or two. "Or someone did. maybe...fire...I..."

"Where is it?"

"It's getting hard to remember." He sighs and gaze moved over the ruins of the old castle as he moved his head to peer over his own shoulder, lingered there a moment's worth until the gentle pressure exerted by Seras's thumb on his left cheek turned him back.

"Where?" she presses on softly caressing his cheek with the back of her hand. Unfortunately, the boy continued to remain as silent as a grave. It somehow became so very important _to know_. Where was her master's coffin? "Why are you crying?" It wasn't until she brought it up that the boy became aware of the moisture leaking down his right cheek and the sudden sting in his left eye. And as he reaches up to wipe his face with the back of his right hand he notices fresh crystal clear tears on the back of his palm. Smears of red though seeped in between the clear droplets of his uninjured eye.

"Am I meant to die master?" She whispers out loud after hearing that very thought in the deepest corners of his mind. It came without warning and with intense sadness filled her soul; the feeling so like the once he'd forced her to endure when they'd been together in the monastery. And that alone meant everything there had not been…nothing….everything had to have been at least a little…real…and genuine…

"I have to die. That is what you need." Her voice has almost no strength to speak the forbidden truth, yet she continues and the look within his eyes betrays the truth without any words to hinder the raw meaning it bore.

Nothing in the world, nothing in over six centuries of _darkness_ had ever ripped at his soul more in such a brutal and excruciating manner. The fresh wave of tears was more brutal than any beating he'd ever sustained. And Elena's words fueled the fire without mercy.

_She _**_will_**_ give her life to save you, that much I have seen and you _**_will_**_ be the one to ask such a thing of her._

He can do nothing but stare blankly at the creature before him as she slowly pulls away from him ready to leave, though the truth was she didn't really wish to leave or part from him. It hurt, everything was hurting again. And it was worse than before.

No…no…NO! The voice inside his mind kept shouting growing in desperation. This wasn't how things have happen. It wasn't…

_Flashback_

_"When I say she does not leave I mean it to the utmost extent. And when I say to keep her origins intact it _**_will_****_be done_**_ as such. You cannot be so ignorant as to willingly want to cause this sort of damage to a child such as her? Do not take the bond you share for granted when it has already been stretched to the limit. It won't survive such recklessness and selfish wants." _

_"You leave, she stays. __**She stays.**__"_

_"Should you ever ask her life for yours and she accepts…"_

_"I will not."_

_"Should you, for the sake of argument," she continued regardless. "No power on earth will save her."_

_Flashback end _

His own thoughts succeeded in startling him from the sheer raw emotion projected in those very words. His body still felt numb, but his eyes no longer faced the snow covered ground and instead looked straight into her face. He was no longer kneeling in freezing cold snow, but pinning her on her back to the ground with strength he did not know he possessed and her head just a few cm from touching the threshold. His breathing was hard and his raven hair all over the place cutting both their faces from the world around them as he hovered over with his knees on either side of her thighs. His hands held hers pinned with the left pinned next to her chest and the right above her head almost touching the stone slabs of the broken gate's threshold. The cross he still wore around his throat slipped from under the collar of his black tunic to hang between them by the black thread that secured it around the prince's throat slowly dangling from side to side.

The sudden change had affected not only his size but his clothing as well leaving him in black pants ending a little over his ankles and a white dress shirt that reached his hips instead of the black top he had on before. His bare feet and hands were deeply embedded within the cold snow, his back was arched to accommodate the position he held on top of her in order to keep his head at an even level with hers and all of his wounds seemed to have disappeared. The boy was gone and Seras found herself starring into twin safire pool of water that died in favor of hot and brightly burning charcoal illuminating a dark night instead of quenching daytime's thirst. The form was that of the vampire Alucard, not the boy, the teen or the elder warlord. His lips were thin, grinning, moist and parted hovering directly over hers with just a tiny amount of space between them. Either one could simply lean in and….

A sudden gust of wind played with the tips of his hair making him look even more surreal with the glow of the night sky above and behind him despite the heavy winter clouds marring it. And with his face so up close his irises seemed to glow like the flames of a newborn fire. The draculina was utterly enchanted. More so when his lips parted a bit more revealing the tips of his fangs and his head leans down in an agonizingly slow pace. He never broke eye contact and she never moved. His lips barely brushed against hers and still her eyelids dropped more than half way, a blissful expression written all over her face. Right there and then, for a brief moment only, she didn't hurt any longer. Everything was calm and silent.

"Foolish girl." The depth of his baritone voice caresses her ears like the purest silk and the evil of all things sin. He does not actually kiss her, yet the way he talks deliberately causes each syllable to be reflected in the form of a brief and tender touch upon her lips. "My mistakes are not yours to make."

He would have said more had he not suddenly closed his eyes and turned from her burying his face into the crook on her neck on the left side and squeezed her wrists to the point of hurting and breaking them. For a moment his entire form turns transparent for the span of one moment and the weight he'd previously exerted on her body fades as though her were no more than a simple weightless shadow. The sharp, pointy tips of his fags graze her pulse point without breaking the skin.

"Do not die for me." He whispers directly into her left ear, a hidden plea within his hoarse, deep voice and a tone that sends shivers down Seras's spine forcing her eyes open and listen carefully. "Somewhere along the way…" the feeling of his mouth nipping at her skin had her sighing as soon as he slowly moves up towards the angle of her jaw. "We shared more than just blood."

That said his tone suddenly darkness and he thrust his mouth against her ear emitting a low and dangerous growl. "**Do not die for me!"** There is no need to shout or scream when the mere depth and roughness of his tone is enough.

"Let go…" she pleads feeling overwhelming sadness fill her soul like a warm blanket meant to soothe a sick child in his bed. The pain was starting once again…she didn't want it…no more…

"I already have." He replies breaking her train of though. His voice is weak and his hands loose their grip on her wrist as well as their strength. They no longer hold any weight to them and his body is almost gone. Seras's head snaps to the left meeting his gaze and the soft and gentle smile gracing his thin, pale lips. Three times now she had seen that same expression. First in anger then sadness and finally love and each time it somehow managed to take her breath away. It always managed to somehow make her understand.

His head leans in stopping just above her lips.

"Seras…" their lips meat in a quick, chaste and fleeting kiss. "Go and conquer." The man's crimson eyes glow capturing hers completely, unlocking something deeply buried inside her mind and showing her…

"No!" widen beyond measure and she screams wrapping her arms around his neck to keep him from fading, but it's of no use. Her arms grasp nothing but thin air; cold winter air.

_**Go and conquer…**_

Twin crimson rivulets trickled down her cheeks dripping from her chin onto the virgin snow around her. She finally knew everything the gentle hum of the shackles had been trying to tell her.

Her crimson tears stained the snow around her. What had she done?

.

.

Two more steps and Seras finally collapsed near the base of an old, crippled three many miles from the ruins of what had once been the majestic castle. Her knees fell sinking into the fresh layer of snow, the cloak she wore around her shoulders spreading wide all around her as she leaned into the trunk of the three with her right hand supporting herself while slowly sinking to the ground. The bark of the tree she leaned on was rough and bridled against her back and right shoulder while a visible trail of blood littered her footsteps all the way back to the castle. Her left had had somehow reformed but it was far too weak to her to have proper use of it. It had been stronger as a shadow, now it was just useless.

_**Go and conquer…**_

The words still rang inside her mind like a mantra guiding her every step. It hurt to move and to keep going was nothing short of agonic. Her left hand clutched at her chest almost desperately trying to alleviate the sharp stabbing pain radiating throughout her upper body. Blood smeared her mouth and chin from the many times she'd doubled over coughing up her own blood when the pain could be bared no longer as well as her shirt offering it a much deeper shade of crimson. Her heart was still silent as a grave, but she struggled to breath and the taste of blood was heavy inside her mouth. The hood of her cloak covered her face exposing nothing but the crimson liquid marring her pale marble skin until she tilted her head backwards and the latter fell. Her eyes were bloodshot and the cornea red and inflamed giving her an utterly sickly appearance.

With a loud sigh she leans her left cheek against the side of the trunk closing her eyes and feeling more liquid trickle down her face from the corners of her eyes; she was crying blood. And she was near the end of her strength.

_Let her feed. It will make things easier_

The strange woman's words had a way of repeating themselves almost each time her body as forced to its knees and she threw up several pints of blood. They were as if taunting her by giving her the promise of blood, of her master's blood, only to deny it mere moments later when she got sick and stained the pure white virginal snow of the forest around her with her own blood. 'Let her feed.' What a cruel and vial joke it was. What could she feed off of? There was nothing there, she was all alone. _Alone!_

Go and conquer Seras…

Alone…There was nowhere to go and nothing to conquer. **Nothing…**

A fresh wave of tears fell down her cheeks as she silently began to cry at the foot of the dead oak tree. She was more alone than ever before. Even the forest held no life within it and was utterly void and completely silent where it not for at least the trees battling the winter winds. Not the smallest of creatures could be heard or felt. Just the wind howling and mocking her as it passed over and around her time and time again. The snow was cold and getting colder.

_Flashback_

_"I stay with my master." She breathes hoarsely against his moist and swollen lips so close she can almost touch them anew. The touch she offers is feather like and as she cups the other half of his face, spreading her fingers wide over his right cheek and turning him so that she may gaze into his eyes. She leans in slowly before placing her lips upon his coaxing them to move in a slow and sensual rhythm he refuses to partake in at first, but surrenders to her desire a moment later nonetheless as the sharp tip of a fang teasingly brushes against his bottom lip without puncturing it._

_Flashback end_

As soon as the though enters her mind it's nothing short of misery. 'I stay' those had been **her** words. Stay as in won't leave, as in I won't ever do anything to hurt…him…

Remembering the touch shared now was like remembering a deep sense of betrayal, his silent request to _'Stay a little _longer' as opposed to her far harsher _'I cannot'. _

'I cannot.' The tears couldn't be helped as her lips form those very words whispering them while looking up towards the clouded heavens above partially obscured by the dead branches of the tree she had fallen against. The same question fills her mind over and over. 'What had she done?' What have **I** done?

She could still remember his eyes, his blood red eyes peering into her soul and showing her a truth, the door he'd opened for her to look into.

Flashback

_Alucard's long red leather coat touched the floor gathering in a small pile as he sat on the bed beside his mate, his right leg under him and the left dangling over the edge of the bed so that the sole of his boot maintained sole contact with the floor. He held a sideways position to the headboard which allowed his legs to be spread apart as to accommodate Seras's presence between his thighs. Both his arm wrapped themselves around her waist and back pulling her against his chest in a comfortable position; her head fit perfectly in the space between his right shoulder and neck as he moved his gloveless hands over her heated skin in slow, shooting strokes._

_"I am here little one."_

_The draculina wastes little time in molding her body against his. Her arms move under his and grip the fabric of his red coat as strongly as they can while her head, safely buried between his jaw and right shoulder, began to nuzzle his flesh affectionately before biting down on his throat with very little force. She didn't break the outermost layer of his skin let alone the vessels underneath._

_"Seras…" he seeks her attention by placing his right hand over the back of her head stroking her silky locks and moving his throat from her teeth._

_"Let her feed. It will make things easier."_ _Elena tells him with a gentle smile gracing her lips._

_Flashback end_

The words finally gained a face behind them: a woman with pale skin, her hair auburn in color and styled in an elegant bun with pearl decorations to match those in her ears and just a touch of makeup with full red lips; a vampire just like her. Just…like….her…

One who'd been there with her and her master and had kept speaking to her master whilst she fed of him so weakly. Thinking about it, about the way her fangs most weakly pierced his flesh barely sinking into it only to pull away almost immediately and spill all the blood she'd taken despite it being just a small trickle that drips down between them spilling over her thighs, was hard to endure. What else had happened? Why was…no why had she been so weak?

Yet despite everything the memory of it alone had her unconsciously lick her own bottom lip remembering a taste that was unlike that of blood currently marring her lips. The simple gesture had her eyelids drop in a soft sigh accompanied by fresh tears. The taste along with that of his skin had her entire body relax and temporarily ignore the pain wrecking havoc within. Her fangs grew passing her bottom lip and lightly graze it cutting into the soft and full texture with great ease.

_Flashback _

_"Vlad!"_

_Seras instantly reacted at the sound of her lover's name on another lips. She attempted to raise her head and find the source, but was stopped by Alucard cupping her face as sealing their lips together. He expertly used them to open her mouth and let some his blood flow into her. As the vampire breaks the kiss a trickle of crimson liquid as thin as the thread of a spider's web spreads between both their stained lips seconds prior to Seras's head falling backwards and her body completely at the mercy of his hands holding her up. He cleaned the blood from her lips with tender, gentle caresses and a low, passionate rhythm to which she weakly responded kissing him back. She opened her sleepy eyes, glazy orbs once so full of life, stared weakly into the soul robbing blazing twins of the elder and smiled lovingly to the best of her abilities._

_"__Ȋ__nchide ochii." Alucard asks of her with such kindness…_

_Flashback end_

The image was broken and the pieces all scattered somewhere in her mind making it difficult to focus and piece them back together. And she struggled she quickly found something more lingering beneath the surface of the image itself. It was overlapping itself with a second one and yet the two were both equal part of the same piece of a forgotten past. They were the same as though overlapping twin common images only to find very subtle differences between; differences not everyone could spot from the very beginning.

_Flashback_

_As the vampire breaks the kiss a trickle of crimson liquid as thin as the thread of a spider's web spreads between both their stained lips seconds prior to Seras's head falling backwards and her body completely at the mercy of his hands holding her up. He cleaned the blood from her lips with tender, gentle caresses and a low, passionate rhythm to which she weakly responded kissing him back. She opened her sleepy eyes, glazy orbs once so full of life, stared weakly into the soul robbing blazing twins of the elder and smiled lovingly to the best of her abilities._

_"Inchide ochii." Alucard asks of her with such kindness…(Close your eyes.)_

**Be strong my little one. You will remember this when the right time comes.**_** Do not be afraid of what is to come. There is always great comfort even when trapped in the deepest pit of despair. Comfort in the knowledge that this, our little game, shall not lead you astray.**_

_He leaned in once more capturing her lips in tender kiss as his left hand trailed over her smooth skin until it reached her right cheek where it lingered for the entire duration of the kiss. His long fingers moved to brush some of her golden hair behind her ears then back over the length of her cheekbones as he pulled away. Once done he used his right hand to grab hold of the intricate knot of his crimson cravat and undid it with a single gesture._

_"Te rog." He adds.(Please)_

_**Cross the line when the time comes draculina**_**. For to die is to** **bare witness to a new life and a new meaning in endless life.**

_**Cross and find your roots buried within mine.**_

_"Vreau acasă." Seras whispered in response. (I want to go home.)_

_"Ești."(You are home.)_

_The draculina shuts her eyelids obedient to his whishes as he offers a final chaste kiss on her forehead. Her own lips parted allowing her to plant an open mouth kiss just over his Adam's apple causing it to bob down in response. _

_**Find your roots my little one, but do not look for them on the soil that birthed you. Instead look upon mine.**_

_**Goodbye my little one.**_

_Seeing her comply Alucard placed his cravat over her eyes, the soft fabric caressing her skin gently and filling her nose with his reassuring scent, and tied it behind her head._

_"Vlad." Elena called his name bringing his attention back to the task at hand. She stood at the foot of the bed and faced them while holding her right arm up and bent at the elbow in front of her. She did not need to tell him again._

_"Goodbye little one." _

_Flashback end _

The feel of the cloth he'd placed upon her eyes was so real Seras instinctively brought her left hand up to her face as if to touch it. Yet her fingers found nothing but her face; just her own hand and the ribbon he'd made sure to tie back around her wrist when she'd lost. The small design of the golden thread dragon stood out against the crimson color of the silken ribbon and once she lowered her hand placing it palm up over her knees which she then brought up to her chest. She gently traced the golden shape with her right index finger. Despite its small size the dragon was perfectly proportioned and detailed. A beautiful work of art from the tip of his long curled tail curled around his throat and the shape of his body to the intricate design of his joined wings like a shield over his back and the cross over them.

_A dragon's wing will take him far. But if he does not jump, they will ground him up in chains and imprison him in the very light he'd always worshiped._

She traced the ribbon just as softly and slowly as he'd done; that intense look within his eyes lingering in the back of her mind.

_He remains deep underground like the roots of an old tree forever linked to the soil of his birth._

_**Find your roots buried within mine. Find them…**_

_Vreau acasă. (I want to go home.)_

_Ești.(You are home.)_

_Flashback end_

"In the soil not of my birth…" She whispers and her breath comes out like a small grey cloud quickly taken by the wind. She smiles sadly bringing her knees up closer and silently sobbing. "I don't remember my birth master…I can't..." puling both hands closer to her chest she cradles the left desperately holding onto the only the thing she knew to be his. The storm had grown stronger and colder while her body grew weaker and frail all alone in the middle of nowhere. "Even if you shot me…I don't know where to go. I'm scared…" she silently confesses feeling more alone than ever before. What roots could she find when the memory of dying as a human was under the light of a fool moon surrounded by trees and that of a vampire in a building she knew nothing of. Her master's touch was the sole thing that linked them together and felt right.

"I don't know where you coffin is master…I'm scared…"

A sound came with the wind caressing her ears as well as her tortured mind, giving her a tiny amount of hope that had her lift her head and look up in the distance. Snow, wind and tears blocked her vision but it did not take long for her to spot something coming her way. The horizon was still bare and void of any signs of life and yet a dark and blurry mass appeared in the distance as if purposely smearing the sickening white color with just a touch of black. The sound of the large creature's footsteps was loud as the fragile layer of freshly fallen snow crepitated beneath his weight. Bit by bit the overall shape of a large body came into view and as Seras weakly sat up leaning against the trunk of the tree for support, her legs feeling incredibly weak and trembling much like the rest of her body was barely holding her up, a beautiful midnight black color appeared out of the white scenery. Strong limbs came forth supported a great weight, powerful muscles hidden underneath the coat swaying in the rhythm of his slow trot. The large stallion stood tall, a long and arched neck, well-chiseled ears adorning its head while a thick wavy mane gave him a most elegant look. The feathers on each of his leg were beaded with frozen snow much like his long mane and tail.

Stopping in front of her he exhales loudly breaking the howling sound of the wind and his front right foot began stomping against the soil in front of her in a manner that was more than familiar to her. His head leaned it as if sniffing the air and slowly approached the draculina's extending left arm. The only thing that was different between this meeting and the one the two had shared before, the sole element that stood out like a sore thumb, was the color of his large, round eye: a bright, deep crimson that followed her every movement as she studied him through the curtain of black strands hanging over his forehead.

"I know you… Seras said in a whispered tone while hesitantly extending her arm a bit towards his head. The warmth of his breath became visible as it touched the tips of her extended fingers just before they came in contact with the soft black coat just above his nose. The horse nickered low and deep maintaining eye contact and leaning his head just a little more in her direction until Seras's entire hand lay sprawled over his muzzle. "Why are you here?" she asks watching him take a step closer until her forehead almost came to rest against his own and her hand caressed the side of face going over to the right before settling on the underside of his head. Strands of her golden hair mixed with the black of his mane as they stood unmoving in that position, yet the wind brought them together.

And although the creature couldn't truly answer her he nickered moving his head up and then shaking it. He groaned taking in a deep breath and then exhaling it loudly as though he no longer wished to hear such pointless a question. His ears tilt back and he presses his head into her chest once more nickering softly, stomping the ground with his right hoof and swishing his long tail. He did not talk nor did he speak and, yet his words were more than clear.

**I know the way. **

"Take me…" Her voice became nothing more than a very soft and low plea barely herd. The horse's ears turned forward picking it up regardless and his posture finally relaxed, shoulders slumping and hooves no longer bashing the frozen soil. "Please take me to my master."

The midnight black stallion nickered softly as though acknowledging and accepting her request. Seras leaned her forehead against his causing the remainder of her crimson fallen tears to trickle down his beautiful black coat. The moment passed basked in the sound of the wind and that of his light breathing and the stallion pulled away from her embrace. He lowers his head bending his left knee and extending the right leg forward while stretching the rest of his body as if waking from a deep sleep; he kneels before her. There he waited most patiently for her to get on.

She may not know where to got, but at least now she had found someone who did.

At least now she was no longer all alone.

To be continued…


	23. Chapter 23

**Here's chapter 18, this was originally a part of the last chapter, but it simply got too long so I had to split it in two.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed and enjoy.**

**Chapter 18**

The way had been long, but at the end of her path was a small rectangular shaped building: the ruins of a small church surrounded by what appeared to be three or perhaps four small buildings made from wood and stone. The structure stood out due to the dark and burned look of the remaining walls, despite the heavy layer of snow covering everything around it as well as its partially collapsed roof. The stallion approached the building leaving deep footprints in the snow. Several long strands of his mane were draped over his forehead while the rest covered the right side of his corded throat caring many flakes that gave it a beaded look like crystal sugar. Seras touched his throat caressing it in a slow and gentle manner that left tell tale crimson smears over his dark coat. Though having him carry her had helped her body relax and reduce the intensity of her discomfort and coughing, the latter continued to persist forcing more blood out of her already heavily drained body.

A particular strong gust of wind moved the twin doors of the small establishment, the right broken at the bottom and the left missing almost entirely except for its sturdy frame and upper right corner which still retained its former glory. The two would stay neither open nor closed and would move randomly against each other in the wind. The horse moved in closer and, about two feet from the door itself, the soil beneath his hooves and snow white blanket turned to solid stone changing the sound his large hooves made whilst walking. He came to a full stop just in front of the door and the three steps leading up to it and neighed low from the bottom of his chest as the draculina stocked along the left side of his strong throat in gratitude. There he kneels once more allowing her to get off and there he would wait until she returned.

Seras stepped in walking with very slow footsteps and leaning against the right side of the door which she pushed open to get inside. The inside of the ruined building was just as bare as the outside and had an almost entirely collapsed roof allowing the snow to seep through. A stone altar stood at the far end of the room while behind it and to the left was a doorframe with no door leading into what appeared to be a second room.

Releasing the door she walks forward wobbling as her long legs barely hold her upright, yet she can't go more than a small distance before collapsing and coughing up a new wave of blood. An incredibly sharp pain as though being stabbed seized her causing her face to contort in pain and completely fall to the floor on her hands and knees over the small pool of her own blood. She struggles to breathe gasping for breath and it seemed as though each breath forced her still heart to beat, yet each beat in itself was nothing short of agony. It took a few good minutes to catch her breath and push herself back up in a seated position, turn from the puddle wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and face the altar though she still kept her bowed. her breathing finally slowed down and her heart….

"You came…" the sudden and unexpected sound of the prince's young voice startles her making her look up, the hood falling off her head anew revealing silvery hair and very sickly features. The bright red of her eyes was a dull and faded color and her lips were almost as white as her skin instead of full and pink. Saddened blue eyes starred back looking down at her as he stood no less than half a foot away with his left arm dangling next to his side and the right holding the latter just above the elbow. At least his face wasn't covered in blood any longer. "Why did you come? I didn't want you to com…"

His words are cut short when Seras jerks forward with such speed it made it hard to believe given her weakened state. Her arms wrap themselves around his middle while pressing the right side of her face into his stomach. Her knees remain at an even level with his simple shoes as she sat on the floor on the back of her calves in front of him hugging him. He was so warm…

The urgency of the act shot pain straight through his back as the many whip marks protested against the feel of her arms rubbing against them regardless of the innocence of her gesture. However, he remains motionless and silent with both arms now on either side of his body. The scent of his blood had impregnated his clothing.

The sound of Seras's heavy breathing echoed all around along with the much gentle howl of the wind as the walls still standing prevented it from fully entering.

"Master…" she whispers weakly.

"You can't be here. I never wanted you here."

"It hurts to breathe…"

"You don't need to breathe." His tone is soft and his right hand slowly comes up to brush the top of her head. "Stop breathing."

"I can't." she replies tightening her grip around his waist just a little at the feel of his fingers treading through her hair. Her chest still moves frantically and irregularly against him, yet Instead of telling her again or offering comfort he merely asks. "Why are you here?"

"I don't care." She tells him and it's obvious from the sound of her voice that she's somewhat afraid he might disappear again or worse, send her away should her answer not the right one. The horse outside neighed catching his attention for a second thus answering the question for in her place.

"You're dying…" he softly whispers lowering his head so that his bangs cover his eyes. And although she cannot see it immense sadness lingers in his blues eyes as his gaze falls on the top of her head and his own fingers moving through her hair.

"Then let me stay…a little longer…"

"You would wish for death in this horrid place?" He questions and a second or so later she moves her head pulling away from him. His right hand lowers gently tracing her left cheek with the pads of his fingers before settling under the angle of her jaw tilting her head back up. His smile is sad and filled with irony. "At the source of my misery? The roots of my pain."

"You told me to go."

"No little one." He contradicts her, but calmly and without raising his voice to her. "**I** didn't. I can't nor could have." He pauses shutting his eyes for the briefest of moments. "I don't exit Seras, despite everything. I'm just…a shadow lost in time and misery locked away where no one would hear me scream or have to look upon me ever again. Your _master_ may have told, but I am **not** him even if you do call me as such. My face is not his, remember?" he smiles sadly curling the left side of his mouth upward though it's barely visible. "I cry." he slowly bends over leaning in, but maintains his distance nonetheless. "I cry."

"So do I." she eventually whispers, the crimson trickling from the corners of her eyes proof of her statement.

Vlad kneels in front of her, eyes closing for a second as a light grimace covers his face from the strain on his injured back. "It was never my intent to hurt you. Ever since waking to the sound of your voice you were always so bright and laughing." Cupping the left side of her face with his entire hand he caressed her cheek with his thumb before brushing her silvery behind her ear to uncover that half of her face. "Now you're miserable and ruined and cast into death and darkness that is my own. It is all wrong; everything I've done is going horribly wrong. I couldn't even get you to stay. Or keep you safe."

"I don't understand."

"How can you?" he agrees dropping both his hand and his gaze from her face and fixing them on the blood staining her shirt. "When I destroyed it all, destroyed you. I didn't save you when you died I just prolonged the inevitable. You never truly healed and I could always feel it, it was always there taunting and tormenting me until I couldn't stand it any longer and..."

His voice grows silent, eyes shutting tight as he turns his head from her dropping his hand from her cheek and clenching it into a tight fist. Seras's slender left hand comes up to tough his left shoulder instead, yet her fingers barely brush against his clothing when he grabs her wrist griping hard stopping her. She gasps at the contact not expecting it. More when her mind is filled with images…

"I am such a fool."

Flashback

**_"De ce?"_**

_The words woke the vampire from his semi conscious state, but they didn't seem to register in the same way to the tiny ball of fuzz whose small triangular ears never moved. Alucard's head jerked up at the sound, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The room was just as dark and just as empty._

_Silence returned in the room and, for a moment, the vampire though the occurrence a mere figment of his troubled mind. His eyelids were just about to drop once more when…_

**_"De ce?"_**

_This time the words were screamed and the voice shouting them was filled with anger and pain. A swarm of shadows rose up from the floor not far from the door and from it the figure of a child emerged; a young boy. His dark clothes were rags and his skin unhealthy pale as if he'd spent a long time away from the gentle touch of the sun. Cuts and bruises littered his body and the top he wore exposed his right shoulder revealing a large purple bruise. The right side of his face bore matching marks, a swollen cheek and a deep cut across his forehead a few mm above the second half of his eyebrow. The latter bled out causing crimson liquid to trickle down his face in the form of a rivulet while both his upper and lower lip were split open on the same side. _

_The blue eyes that stared at him were completely broken and racked with suffering that caused far greater pain than his words. It was a sensation far worse than taking a stake through the heart, and an image made even worse by the pair of twin black arms emerging like the cloak of death itself on either side of the child. Clawed, skeletal like fingers dripping protruded before the limbs enclosed the boy getting closer and closer._

_"De ce?"_

_The same question found him anew as the child could not keep the look of pure suffering from his expression as his gaze drifted downward towards the tiny creature concealed behind Alucard's gloved hand. Ever closer; the hands passed the boy's shoulders and with them hot tears cleared a path over his dirty face. All the pain, all the horror and suffering the poor human child represented froze the vampire in his place. He was looking in a mirror, no a house off horrors… _

_And when he saw the boy's lips move asking the same question a fourth time, he could no longer hear his words. Death's hands encased the young human crushing him, returning him back to the mass of shadows he came from…._**_Himself_**_…_

Flashback end

"I…just lost it for a while and I tried to show him, but he didn't and l…" The boy turns his gaze back to her while explaining, yet the somewhat vagrant expression written all over her face stops him. Her eyes are cast down and her gaze heavily focused on their joined hands: his hand held hers and the symbol on the ribbon beneath his fingers shone faintly against the paleness of her skin; the dragon was glowing. The boy's shoulders relax as though the scene is enough to calm the restlessness and the guilt he felt.

"Do you know why your roots are mine?" he asks her in a much softer voice gaining her undivided attention almost immediately. At the same time he takes hold of one of the loose ends of the ribbon and slowly pulls undoing the knot holding it in place. It is the same gesture shared whilst in the monastery and just like then she stops him by pulling her hand back a little.

"Let me…" he whispers softly pleading his case and meeting her gaze while waiting for her to comply. "You don't need it any more."

Still Seras hesitates unwilling to part with the small keepsake. "Let go." He urges her again, voice just as low and calm.

"Why?" her question doesn't come as a surprise and neither does the layer of confusion accompanying it.

"It is the beginning of my end."

The last loops is gently pulled from her skin, yet his hand lingers in its place awhile longer, the ribbon dangling from between his fingers before he moves it forward and entwines their fingers together. A strong gust of wind fills the abandoned chapel whipping at Seras's face forcing her to shut her bloodshot eyes to prevent the many frozen particles of snow form damaging them. A moment later the cold air is gone and instead gentle warmth like that of a warm summer's night surrounds her. "It is ironic that a sanctuary should become the scene of a blood bath, is it not?"

As her eyes reopen the building no longer lays in ruin. There is no snow to litter the stone floor, the windows have glass once more, twin rows of simple wooden benches are lined up in front of the altar and several candles lit the chapel in a soft, orange glow. The two of the now were now sitting of the floor in between the rows. "There was no warning. And my life ended."

The tone of his voice saddens, yet the grip on her hand tightens.

Flashback

_The doors of the chapel burst open as a dark haired man helping a heavily pregnant woman walks in. She wore a dark blue dress, but it was muddy in places especially along the rim and her long black hair barely stood up in the bun it was styled in; there were strand everywhere. Her most distinguished feature though, was the large bulge in front of her body, the child within her womb. See seemed close to term at first glance,, but the distressed expression written all over her face hinted at something more. Not only had she gone into labor, but her left side had a bleeding wound; a knife wound._

"And they left her to die." Vlad spoke out loud knowing exactly who the woman before them was.

_As she and the man came closer walking toward the left side row and the first bench the color of her eyes came into view for the first time…they were the same beautiful ocean blue as the prince's. _

"_Mother?" the voice which called the woman 'mother' belonged to a very young child no older than four years old. He had short raven hair and the eyes to match. His clothes, much like his mother's were a tad dirty and dusty, but revealed his royal status. The boy quickly followed after the adults stopping only at his mother's side._

"_It's alright," she kept looking over her shoulder as if waiting for someone or something to come in after them. "You're safe here. It's alright." She wiped some of the smudges of his tiny cheeks with her thumbs and kissed his forehead lovingly before embracing and holding her beloved child to her chest. She was trying her best to comfort him and spare him the pain of knowing fear at such a young age. _

_Her shoulders shook form the stress her body was going through as a solitary tear rolled down her left cheek and dropped onto the child's black hair. She had to clench her teeth and sigh in pain against his head as another contraction raked her frame._

"_I will keep look outside my Lady." The man accompanying them said turning from them and walking back towards the partially open door. He closed it behind him._

_It was only then that the woman pulled back from her son wiping the trace of tears from her face before standing up. The boy immediately noticed and, of course, questioned her about it._

"_Why are you crying?"_

"_It is nothing. We must go now." She tells him continuing to fight the pain._

"_You are to crying." The four year old boy told her, eyes narrowing behind his bangs in an all too familiar manner as he's pulled by the right hand towards the back of the chapel and the door behind the altar. _

"_I'm sorry…" she speaks in between painful contractions and ragged intakes of air, but walks on holding onto each individual bench for support as she passed them one after another. There was preciously little time left. Her skin was horribly pale, grayish in tone with lips that had lost their regular pink hue. She was becoming cold to the touch and each step left a footprint or two in blood. "I need you to do something for me. I need you to be strong and listen carefully to what I'm about to say. That man cannot be trusted and you must not remain here. Inside the room there is a bookcase on the farthest wall from the door, one with a book bound in black leather and the symbol of the dragon in red upon it._

_There's a little hole in the wood behind it. Take this," She stops releasing him and moving her hands to the high collar of her dress to undue the three golden buttons of her dress. Once done she pulls a long thin silver chain from under her dress, a silver cross tied to the other end. The woman then took it off and placed over Vlad's head. The cross hung low over his chest. "The end is a key. Put it in and turn it twice towards your heart and once the other way and a door will open beneath your feet." She stops speaking forced to catch her breath as another strong and painful contraction seizes her body._

_"Mother…"_

_"You have to be strong for me…" she whispers bending down and kneeling before him despite the incredible strain it put on her. "Be strong and take care of things from now on. Look out after your little brother."_

"_But mother…"_

"_I'm so sorry. I wish I could protect you better. I love you so much…" she pulled him to her chest circling her arms around his small shoulders and resting her head on the top of his soft, silky raven hair. The crystal clear color of her many tears drowned in the short mass as her fingers gently caressed his scalp in a soothing manner. The boy embraced her back as his right hand reflexively sought out the gift she had given him. "I love you." The queen whispers once more taking one final moment of solace in the warm embrace of her beloved child and in the pure love she held within her heart for him. After that she strengthens her resolve, takes one deep breath and sends him away. _

"_Go and open the door. It will open to a small flight of stairs leading down to a long corridor. Take a candle with you and go down the steps and light up the torch you find there. The stay there and count to twenty like I taught you. Out loud so I can hear you."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because you have to help me with the little one. If we were home Ania would have done it, but now I need you too. It's very important you do as I say: you open the door, descend, lit the torch and count. You stay there no matter what…regardless of what you might hear. Now promise."_

"_But I don't want to leave you." His words were honest and sincere and spoke with the passion, the love and longing only a child could when speaking to his mother. _

_Flashback end_

Watching the scene, although it was from the sidelines, the impact was far greater on the silver haired vampire that the shadow of the raven haired boy. It stirred up an unusual feeling deep inside her. There was something so heartbreaking about that image: a mother crying in desperation for fear of loosing and abandoning her child despite her sole interest to protect and save said child from the all the misery of the world. Seras's eyes couldn't look away. She remembered eyes such as hers, the brutal truth drowning the weeping woman's soul as she diligently struggled to keep everything away form identical pair of ocean dipped irises hovering of the verge of crying. It was in a sense quite the marvel of see how many of the woman's black strands would switch, ever so briefly, from ebony black to gold and how her features would change ever so slightly into a face her eyes failed to recognize, yet one her soul somehow remembered deep down…Her own mother…

_Flashback _

"_I __**need**__ you to go, just for a little while…the dark can't harm you. Please be strong for me. Always be strong and true to what you hold as best and what you believe to be right. I know you're scared, but you mustn't let that get in the way. Never let anyone rob you of the pride you have in your eyes. Vlad…my little one…be strong for me…"_

_At her master's name being called Seras tore her gaze from the woman and child and looked down. Simultaneously, she felt the prince move and mold his body into hers: head turning so that his face could easily bury itself against her right shoulder. His eyelids dropped to the point of almost closing as he pressed into her a little bit more. He sought comfort she alone could provide. _

"_You have to take care of things from now on. You're the only one who can. You'll take your brother and go."_

"_Moth…"_

"_Go." She cut him of as quickly as one would a thin piece of string. "Go." And yet the seriousness in is mother's gaze left no room for discussion whatsoever. Holding back his tears the 4 year old reluctantly obeyed._

_His tiny stride led him to the bookcase where he used the cross as instructed and did as told despite hesitating at first at the sight of the stairs covered in a heavy layer of black devoid of all light. His voice eventually rang out in the emptiness of both rooms as he diligently counted. Darkness surrounded him for the first time in his life...it would never leave him._

_The woman was left behind, a prayer passing her lips as she reached into her left boot for a knife she kept concealed there. _

Flashback end

The chapel returned to normal, the lone cry of a baby fading with it.

The rest became unseen history till many years later when the boy finally understood how the infant child came into his mother's hands when she called for him and handed him his little brother all wrapped in a layer of her blue dress.

"I'm sorry." Seras spoke in an apologetic manner. Her left arm wrapped itself around his shoulders and upper back for a moment before it moved upwards and began tracing his scalp with her fingers.

"I never knew it had been _him_." Vlad tells her without taking his eyes off the cross he now held up between them. The small silver bangle dangled from its black string from one side to the other. "Not until so much later."

"Him?" Seras asks reaching out with her right hand attempting to touch it with her index finger, yet stopped mm before her skin could come into contact with the blessed metal.

"**Him."** He tells her standing back up. His tone filled with hatred and venom. He pulls her up to her feet changing the look of the chapel anew. It look just as before with the exception of the large pool of blood gathered beneath the bench the raven haired woman sat upon breathing completely irregular.

_Flashback_

_The door to the back room of the of the chapel behind the altar had barely closed after the young prince with a soft thud when the main wooden doors were swiftly opened and a small group of men entered, blood staining their armor and weapons. Amongst these one took center stage as he stepped forward crossing the room and walking in between the two rows of wooden benches. He had somewhat longer__reddish brown hair reaching the middle of his shoulder blades tied up in a low ponytail with piercing dark green emerald eyes and thin reddish moustache over his upper lip. He approached the raven haired woman in silence with only the sound of his armor clinging as he took one step after another. _

_A veritable pool of blood had former around her staining both her flesh, the bench and the stone floor by her feet and it was more than obvious at first glance alone that the child she had carried within her womb was absent. He once elegant dark blue dress was near dark brown over her abdomen and due to a good part of her skirt being missing he could see the blood trickling down her calves. The small knife was still in her right hand, her grip trembling and bloody upon it just as the thin sharp blade was. Her eyes were closed, tears staining her cheeks, and her skin was ashen in color, but her lips were still parted and lightly moving with each shallow breath she took. Death was but a few short moments away… _

_"My Lady what have you done?" he all but mocks her selfless sacrifice to save her children by the mere tone he used to whisper next to her as he shamelessly took a seat on the bench to her right. "This will not save them."_

_"…will sav…e…thems…elves…" The queen weakly whispers back, each word harder to pronounce forcing her to breath and inhale sharply before uttering them. Her eyelids struggle to open even if just a little._

_"It needed have to be this way. You shouldn't have run."_

_"Die i…in pea…ce…let me…m…die in…."_

_"Where is your son woman? Tell me!" he roughly demands raising his voice without actually shouting the words in a fit of anger. He needed the boy alive._

_The woman only smiles, a barely visible twitch of her lips, at the though of her child safe from the clutches of the monster, the traitor, sitting next to her. It was a horrible gamble to take, but she'd had no other choice. The underground tunnels were long and treacherous and the young prince had never explored them before to know which way was safe to take…he was still just a little boy…And now the weight of a crippled world was being placed upon his shoulder by her very hand and actions. She'd entrusted one child to another not yet able to understand everything that was happening around him. _

_But he was smart, she smiled again at the thought, her son was very smart for his age though no one other than her had truly taken the time to notice the many subtle hints in his behavior or clear blue eyes as he analyzed each and everything around him with the greatest of interests. She had faith in her son and with or without her he would become a great man. And not even death could shatter that firm belief. Her sole regret lay in the though of never seeing him smile again; that beautiful and brilliant smile always adorning his handsome face, such a beautiful boy, whenever something no matter how small truly made him happy. And something he would only ever let her see. He was well guarded in his emotions, even at such a small age, and though it had pained her to teach him to do so early on the path now seemed to bare fruit; a frightened and scared child could not have listened to her to such an extent and done as told without getting it wrong. Her son would not fear the darkness to come and he would find his way home and out of danger and deliver his younger brother to his father without fail._

_She trusted he would. _

_"Is dying by you God your pleasure, __**Cneajna**__?" he whispers her name directly into her right ear letting his breath brush against her ashen skin._

_"Y..yes…s.." she gathers every once of strength left within her body to smile succeeding to do so in the very end. Her son would live one, both of them would survive, but the Prince would grow to more than __**just**__ a man. He would be much more…_

_"Le…leav..e…Baron…" her once shining blue eyes close as death draws closer and closer. Her head tilts back as she rapidly swallows a few times struggling to breathe. Just a little longer, just a little more and it would all be over. she would be free..._

_"Forgive me my Lady." He whispers before swiftly and expertly twisting her head and breaking her neck. He's quick and flawless offering her a clean death and salvation from further suffering from acute blood loss. He knew she managed to cut herself in such a way to prevent excess damage and keep herself from bleeding to death immediately upon removing the child, but that in turn meant suffering a slow and agonizing death. He knew she'd done it in order to send the boy the way by making it look like nothing was wrong with her and he knew all this because the child in question wasn't there. He would not have left his mother otherwise. _

_With one final glance at her eternally sleeping face the Baron sits up picking her cold body up in his arms before heading for the group of men waiting by the entrance for him._

_"Kill him." He tells one of the men after passing the very dark haired man that had turned on his Lady in favor of his service. She should have never been harmed and he'd been more than specific regarding the subject. Princess __Cneajna was worth more than the allegiance to his Lord and country and though tainted by that man's bastard son...sons…he would have still made sure no harm ever befell upon her. Out of the entire country she would have forever been guarded and protected no matter what. "And release the priest."_

_He would see her properly buried. He may not care much for God or his own faith when each life he took was a direct sin against Him, but he would honor hers. He would lay her body to rest as she deserved and then search for the boy. He was just a boy after all, how far could he have gone? _

_Flashback end _

With the image gone the prince turns form Seras without another word heading towards the small back room. Just like all those years ago.

"You have…." Seras whispers attempting to ask about the infant in question, though never quite finishing her sentence.

"I had." He tells her pushing the squeaking remains of the door open with his right foot. "He turned on his kind." He then turns back to her extending his right hand out to her in silent invitation.

With a small nod the draculina follows him into the room where he walks over to the farthest wall from the door where one of the bookcases had once been. He inserts the end of the cross into the small crack hidden there and twists it twice to his heart and once the other way thus opening the trap door not a foot's distance from Seras's current position near the middle of the floor.

"I don't remember much of her, maybe one or two pleasant fragments more. But death never seems to grant me peace." He chuckles at the irony of it all.

"Master?"

"3.424.867." he whispers closing his eyes. 3.424.867 times over the same old plot line infinitely repeating itself as it went on and on time and time again while shifting through the endless sea of darkness, of hungry and screaming souls. How utterly tedious, redundant and pointless the whole thing had become. At least until he'd come across some other retched soul and the boredom subsided for at least a little while. Kill...kill...kill...he'd done over and over till all the souls were dealt with.

"3.424.867…."he pauses and his head turns in her direction. "…and **one**. The worst of all, _you_." Their eyes met and though hi words are harsh his expression remains soft and sad. "I never wanted to show you _**this**_." He pauses for a second time thinking of how to rephrase the use of that one word. Nevertheless, both the sound and taste of pure, bitter distain coated the tip of his tongue quite heavily. And perhaps even the smallest hint of shame. "You just…opened the door and _fell_." He lowers his head softly sighing and breaking eye contact. His right hand clenches around the small silver bangle causing the cold metal to press against his palm while the remaining black string continued to dangle in thin air.

"I'm sorry…" she replies, her eyes deep in thought. She understood what he meat by falling as she remembered it quite well, but sheer panic dominated that recurring thought. The face of the nun turning into…running away had been instinctual.

"I'm not." He tells her noticing the regret his words brought and carried. His eyes reopen and his grip loosens around the silver cross as he moves to cross the room a second time heading towards the trapped door.

"If anything," he says taking her left hand in his right before going any further. "Nothing you've ever done in that place will change that which has already come to pass, the horror and misery that have become my life."

The cold metal of the cross touched her palm remaining trapped between their hands as he gently tugs her forward. The silver didn't burn her flesh or cause any sort of blemishes to mar the skin of her palm as it should have; it was just cold at the ends and warm all around the middle from when he held it.

"But I'm glad I had **one** that was _different_." His gaze lingered on the back of his hand resting in the cradle of her palm. "Can you keep this for me?" he softly requests tone of his voice lowering in order to accommodate the soft echo of his pleading whisper while raising his head and looking into her face. "I'd like too see it again one day."

Her hand moves back and his fingers trace both the smooth surface of the body of the cross as well as the silken like texture of her flesh. Seras's right hand comes up to his left temple lingering in that spot a little longer before pushing some of the wild strands of raven hair behind his ear. She took great care to avoid touching the large bruise and cut as he in turn leans into her touch.

"Then what…were you supposed to show me?"

Vlad sighs shutting his eyes. "It no longer holds merit. It would not make any difference any longer, none at all. You already saw a different path to what needed to be seen."

Her thumb still traces his cheek rubbing small circles over it. Her head then turns eying the former concealed door on the floor. With so little light the whole in the ground was pitch black with just the first stow steps partially visible. "Then why am I here?" her hand drops and the changed position of her head made her long bangs fall forward and conceal the upper part of her face yet again.

"Because of a lie I once told you that was actually a frail version of the truth. Vampires never link their souls together, no one does, and that was the lie. And we did which was the truth. And for the first time in ourexistence draculina I felt fear watching you. Your rage, your rage is you greatest asset little one. The **purest** thing I have ever seen. I just never figured why or what brought out mine first."

That said he walks on ahead taking the first few steps into the darkness below. His words left many things unspoken. And as she stood there watching him slowly descend form the corner of her eyes her every instinct told her they were nowhere near done.

.

The dark and narrow hall, dust, debris and cobwebs filling it up, led down many a path as it split into three main branches: two were passages to freedom and one a dead end that opened into an octagonal tomb with an arched ceiling and the word _**Dragwlya **_etched into the stone above the doorframe. Several stone sarcophagi placed in the middle All of them with depictions of knights holding swords on the lid while one alone depicted the form of woman wearing a long gown. And in the far end of the room was a broken sarcophagus with its stone lid missing; and through the cracks something black shone from within. Seras stopped in front of the archway looking at the foreign word for a moment longer not understanding it while the boy simply walked in brushing his right hand against the side of one of the sarcophagi and leaving a mark in the heavy layer of dust coating it. The sarcophagus in question was the only one of those depicting knights that was broken and cracked almost entirely; far worst that the one at the back of the room. Most of the body was disfigured and the lid collapsed as though something had taken a hammer to it smashing it in a fit of rage. The name that should have been inscribed on the bottom in the front was missing as well having been scratched off. Pieces of the lid were scattered on the floor around it and there were few places on the body that had no damage to it whatsoever.

"The word is _Dragwlya**. **_It comes from _Dracul_ the name of my father." He tells her leaving the broken sarcophagus behind and nearing the one in the back, the one that seemed more out of place than all the rest due to its somewhat _marginalized_ position. Seras walks in following in his footsteps as he continues to speak, his back now to her. "_Drac_ is medieval for dragon and _Dracula_ is simply son of the dragon. A far different term then what my name means to both the world and the Hellsing family. This is all that's left of my house now: cold stones, scattered bones forgotten in a broken crypt, a vial monster and you my _draculina_." He turns to look at her watching as she slowly takes one step after another and knowing how difficult it was getting for her to stand up and wait so patiently for him to finish. He could see the strain, fatigue and the weariness her body was fighting against just to stay awake; the utter paleness of her skin and the sickly look on tired her. "The rest have been scattered by the wind."

Seras looked around the room noticing all the neatly crafted sarcophagi as well as the scared one he passed with a distant and haunting look within his eyes. It was the same kind of look he'd had earlier when speaking of _his brother_. "It was one night," he tells her noticing the lingering and questioning expression in her half lidded eyes. "During the war while suffering a great loss that I took a moment to visit this place and…" he pauses. "Anger overcame me. Sometimes I would also come here and ask what she would have thought of me had I not done as told and just left him there as she left me…" He didn't get to finish as Seras fell to her knees clutching her chest by the side of the broken sarcophagus, the silver cross clinging loudly as she drops it. He's immediately by her side kneeling in front of her and cupping her face. Cold liquid touches his hands and the scent of blood hangs in the air. Seras breaths deeply inhaling and exhaling as her body started trembling and she drew her knees closer to her chest and leaned her back against the cold stone of the broken sarcophagus.

"Stop breathing." He tells her anew attempting to wipe the bloody tears form her face. Unfortunately, they weren't tears at all. She was merely bleeding. "Stop." He lifts her face making eye contact though it proved difficult to gaze into such a suffering face. "Stop Seras."

One more breath and she does, yet her face contorts in pain shortly after and she's tempted to breath once more.

"Stop…" he whispers more softly bringing his face closer so that their foreheads almost touch. "Stop Seras. You don't need to breath."

Seras gasps for breath regardless as more crimson leaks from the corners of her eyes staining his hands. His left arm protests against being moved in such a fashion despite him not forcing it, but he keeps it still broken bone or not. Seras takes hold of his wrist gripping them tightly as the wave of pain reverberates through her body and her chest heaved up and down several times more. "Stop…" He breaths bringing his lips closer and lightly kissing the right corner of her mouth. "Stop."

The draculina shakes her head in refusal, the pain much too great to ignore, but the act bends his left arm causing him to groan biting his lower lip and pull his hand away.

"I'm sorry…"she immediately apologizes breathing hoarsely becoming even more frantic than before. She'd forgotten his arm was broken and moving her head could have bent the broken the wrong way. "Master I'm so…"

The kiss effectively silenced her and this time he didn't pull back right away. Instead he used his right hand to tilt her head and deepen the kiss. One moment passed then another and another and the longer the kiss went on the less she focused on filling her lungs with unneeded air. In spite of the lingering pain, air took second place to the feel of his warm lips against hers.

"You don't need to breathe." He whispers hoarsely against her moist lips and for the first time that night she doesn't breathe, not any longer. And the pain was almost gone becoming a distant memory. He was the one whose breath now touched her swollen lips each time he exhaled and inhaled while coming down for the high of their kiss. "Don't brea…" she leans in capturing his lips anew wrapping her arms around the back of his head and burring her fingers in his shoulder long raven hair.

"It hurts…" her words come out weakly once the kiss ends and she lowers her hands down the sides of his throat stopping at the base.

"If I _make_ it stop you might never wake again."

"Please?" she pleads with a broken voice. It is almost too much to bare and worse than remembering the ghostly touch of the blessed blade sinking and trusting into her flesh. "I'll wake…" the blood flow had stopped for only a little while, yet new tears trickled down her cheeks. "I promise I'll wake."

"You can't." The truth was horrid to say out loud, but he knew it had to be said. "You won't."

"I will."

"No. No you won't."

"I stay with my master!" she shouts unwilling to back down.

"I'd rather you die than stay with me!" The prince shouts back in ager as all the warmth and gentles of his tone disappears, anger and frustration taking their place. The sound is so loud and the confession so harsh it shocks her into silence. "You will die, don't you understand? I can make it stop and I can make you better, but you will die. You have no blood left to heal. Your heart is broken, it never healed. Death is your only salvation."

Seras stares at him wide eyed finally having an answer to the cause of the crippling pain that haunted and tormented her.

"I showed you how you drowned in my blood, how difficult it was for you take it. Your body tried to heal but couldn't'. You aren't me, **you are not me**!" he emphasis each word lowering the pitch of his voice to make it sound less like the child he still was and more like his grown up self. "The cat boy's blood put me to sleep for 30 ears. What do you think it did to a vampire who's nothing more than a child! You are dangling from a thread that is my blood and have been from that day on and there won't be **anyone**…"

"I'll wake." She says, but it's so silent he almost doesn't hear it. And yet it's not as much the words she uses or their meaning, but the unmistakable certainty of success hidden beneath like a fragile china glass tucked away under several layers of soft and plush wrapping to protect it. "I want you to it. I want," She cries smiling, bringing hope to the despair shining in his blue eyes and the heavy layer of anger she sees within. She speaks confronting the _fear_ within. "To see you when I wake. I will see you."

"No." he contradicts her.

"I will."

"Why the hell would you?" he screams completely distancing himself from her by sitting up and turning his back to her. He sneers as if making fun of her honesty, but it's his own existence and actions that his mad at. "You sit there and cry telling me you 'will' but you won't. You sit there whispering 'promise' never fulfilled." His words hitch in his throat as he forces himself to swallow and bite his lower lip hard in order to contain some of his own anger. "Whispering salvation to a retched soul undeserving. Why stay when darkness, gore and shame fall before you with each retched breath I take? When I'm destroying you to for my own selfish cause?" He bites down so hard he draws blood without thinking to stop. "When you _**saw **_what _she_ said. 'Die at my request' despite my own refusal to ask it of you. You've already _consented_ knowing **nothing**!" he turns to face her still upset and still concerned, but she's nowhere to be found until he hears the sound of the metal cross hitting the stone structure of the farthest of the sarcophagi within the room. The abandoned one...

He turns his head firstly noticing the black fabric of her cloak laying on the floor and later on her body as she leans against it facing him. Unlike the rest of the sarcophagi that one was situate on a small pedestal raising it of the floor by several good cm allowing Seras's lower back to rest against it. She had her right hand pressed up against her chest and her left holding onto the edge of the lid while the silver cross dangled from them and the black string it was tied to. Her chest was _moving_ again…

"I know enough." She replies with strength neither of them knew she still had. Her head was turned to the right and facing the black object held within the sarcophagus and the words written on top of the lid: **The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame.**

It was her Master's coffin…

"And I don't need you to stop me from d…" Her eyelids dropped in mid sentence and her body went limp succumbing to the welcoming embrace of darkness and sheer exhaustion. It had all be too much. Far to much…there was so little blood left...

When her eyes finally flickered open again she barely had the strength to open them halfway. Everything was red all around her, a deep crimson without being vibrant and hurting her eyes and the bedding was soft beneath her not that she could really feel it press up against her skin. There was a ceiling of some sorts somewhere above her or at least that's what she thought it was and it appeared to be of the same crimson color as everything else. She could see a small pattern and small dome shaped squares lines up one after another and separated from another by small red dots and the ceiling… seemed to move. There was a black spot seemingly moving in the upper most point of her field of vision and ceiling with something red, bright and vibrant, in the middle of it that seemed to sway and look almost like lettering.

_**In the sea without lees  
>Standeth the bird of Hermes<br>**_

The words were so far away. Where they even there? Was she really hearing them or was it just a figment or her fading and weakened mind? She was warm, so very warm and something very soft was brushing against her face on the right side; there was also something cold pressing against her chest, but it didn't hurt. In fact nothing seemed to hurt any longer.

_**Eating his wings variable  
>And maketh himself yet full stable<br>When all his feathers be from him gone  
>He standeth still here as a stone<br>**_

The words got stronger and her vision cleared. Gentle blue eyes starred down at her from above as well as upside down and it took her a second or two to realize her head was resting on his lap as he sat there holding her with his thighs acting like her pillow. His knees were bend, calves were parallel to his thighs, and both his hands held her face in his lap cupping her cheeks though only the right brushed its fingers over it. He smiled looking down at her and she couldn't help but smile back. The ruby dye of her irises shifted appearing glazed and haunting as her vision cleared, yet beaming with emotions so strong it seemed as though they would burst and burn everything in their wake. Her eyelids dropped just an inch or two, small crimson droplets falling down the sides of her temples anew and disappearing into her silver locks. She woke as promised and as promised he was the first thing she saw.

"Here is now both white and red and also the stone to quicken the dead." He spoke while continuing to smile and caress her cheek. "Here standeth the Bird of Hermes. Eating my own wings, to keep...myself tame..." He finishes and she remembers the words as those she'd seen written on the black lid of the box hidden within the stone sarcophagus at the end of the room. And that box had been **master's** coffin.

"Always so close to despair my draculina." He whispers with such pride. "My one and true draculina, you're all that's left."

"Master…" she weakly whispers offering a second smile, but when she tries to move pain shoots through her body holding her in place. Her left arm was limp by her side while the right rested over her stomach. Her shirt was missing and it its place were black bagged wrapped around her bleeding chest, but even they could not stop the flow of blood that still trickled seeping from the soaked edges as they could not hold it any more. She'd started bleeding from the scar on her chest…

"Within this box is my own true kingdom. Within this soil I died." The back of his finger brush her cheek softly, slowly and most lovingly.

_Flashback_

_The axe came down the very next moment, quick and merciless ready to uphold its end of the deal. The prisoner, however, instead of just lying there waiting for death to come take his life, move his head towards the pool of crimson laid out before him. Both his body and soul struggled with the decision, with all that blood laid out before him in a still warm pool that would soon bare his own as well. Strands of messy ebony hair covered half his face as he leaned forward hesitating a few times until he found the courage to defy death and just reach for it. He opened his mouth extending his tongue toward the liquid in question. He managed to both touch and lap it up seconds before the sharp edge of the axe came crashing down merciless on the skin of his neck spilling blood and cutting through the long raven locks, skin and bone alike and finally embedding itself in the wooden boards of the platform._

_The cross around his neck shattering upon impact._

_Flashback end_

"Over 600 years ago there was no forest here just a vast and empty field. This small chapel was build by the monks you met at Comana by my request once the monastery itself was done and I would find my end. I at least wanted peace when dead so I had myself buried here and had the world believe my body was in the monastery I built for God. But when I saw that they put all of us together, even if symbolic, I could not stand it and destroyed my brother's resting place as you saw. Then later when I was no longer human I brought the rest of my line here to at least have _someone_ stay by my side."

_Flashback_

_The fields were ablaze lighting up the sky as thick black smoke rose from the ground up and for as long as the eye could see there was noting but deep orange fire and massive flames. The moon was full, blood red and weeping for the souls lost beneath her gaze. Screams filled the night, people running, horses neighing and trampling over the fallen…_

_Thousands of crimson, fiery orange and pitch black tendrils scared the blood soaked soil reaching for the heavens. They spread like a vast and open sea rising and falling and clashing against each other swallowing up everything and everyone unfortunate enough to fall prey to their path. The blood soaked fields and the piled up bodies of the dead, the living and now the dying sustained the massive and out of control flames. Whole trees were engulfed while the bodies that hung from their many branched burned like bright pillars against the smoke filled sky. One tree stood alone on top of a barren hill, one whose roots still housed the wooden platform and scaffold and was ablaze burning brightest as smoldering black flames consumed it. It was the grave sight of many broken bodies where the soil bore the most scars and had soaked the largest amount of fresh, warm crimson as one head after another had been cut off and left to rot in the fading light of day. The thick pitch black trunk of the tree stood out amongst the sea of orange, red and black; the center piece of a burning hellish inferno like the center piece jewel on a king's crown. The river of fire spread wide from its roots slithering down the steep sides of the charred ground like the bodies of snakes. The platform, the scaffold, they were all destroyed and the wooden boards blackened in blood ripped and scattered around it without burning up like everything else. The discarded axe still lay embedded in one of the pieces with the tell tale traces of crimson still marring the sharp edge of the blade and matching liquid dripping from its long handle. And beside it was the body of the man who'd once wielded it, all that was left of him. _

_Amongst the screams, amongst the terror, fear and death, the blood being drained from lifeless corpses and still beating hearts, new tendrils slithered over the burning soil without putting the flames out and before rising in mid air while heading in a completely opposite direction than the rest. They were all gathering and heading towards the figure of a man. A seemingly human figure and dark silhouette on the other side of the tree whose molted lava color irises shone brightly glowing a deep demonic red while starring at the massacre below. Shark like teeth glistened in the fire's glow as blood dripped from his mouth and his head was thrown back in maniacal laughter: deep throated, hoarse, maddening and satisfied; the victory cry of war. _

_The black of his hair swirled behind him like a long cape blowing in the wind of death and from the many tips the tendrils came to life._

_Flashback end_

"The walls of my coffin were forged from the very boards I died on and filled with the black soil I bled on. The fools were supposed to take my head to Constantinople as a gift for the sultan, the spoils of war." He mischievously smiles if only for a second. "Instead they thought the night to long and the effort to great and they drank themselves drunk. My body was thrown in hole at the base of the three so it was easy for them to throw the head in there too until the next day. A head was eventually sent with no one being any wiser. After all, they'd never seen my face and all that had never saw the light of day again. The rest is ironically history."

"Master I…"

"You suffer because of me." He interrupts her placing his index finger over her lips to silence her. "It doesn't hurt, remember? All these wounds and I feel so little pain." He pauses. "You feel it for me. That is why your chest hurts so, why you suffer so greatly. The pain you feel is mine and that to is because of selfish weakness."

_Flashback_

_If I put her under this spell she'll be the only one able to break it. Whatever is left of her true self must come out to the surface or she'll drown in the lies you've conjured. Otherwise she'll forever be bound to your life, to the soil of this place and she'll never be able to leave it without suffering greatly for it. Do you truly want to put her through such painful experience knowing full well what might await her?_

_Flashback end_

"You are bound by means of blood to the castle, but the castle is me. The castle has always been me." He silently confesses leaning over her so that his forehead came come rest upon her own. "You stand as the castle should, beautiful and strong, but the castle is not what I showed Elena. It is nothing but the ruin you saw, a shadow lost and forgotten, just like me." He chuckles listening to the sound of her still irregular breathing. Though it wasn't as strong and potent as before, it still brought forth the serious nature of her condition. "I woke to the sound of your voice. After centuries of darkness, of banishment, I finally woke and you were there screaming and trying to protect me from the Iscariot dog when you had no cause to." Pausing he lifts his head gazing into her eyes as they close spilling more tears into her silvery hair and the black fabric of his pants as her lips part and she takes in several shallow and uneven breaths, blood trickling from her lips as it begins to fill her mouth as well. "You bloody fool." He whispers and his teeth then clench shut as his shoulders lightly tremble with the anger he feels coming to life only for it to die just as fast moments later. And with the tension gone his shoulders drop and his black bangs obscure his face, the corners of his mouth relaxing. "And I never thanked you for it." His hand continued to caresses her cheek waiting for her eyes to reopen. "Why do you _stay_ with me draculina?" He can't help but ask trying to make sense of the loyalty forever reflected in her crimson irises since the day they were still as blue as the sky and she refused to drink. Why show loyalty to something that brings you fear, yet you never turn from it? 'Come along now Seras no time to be a coward' he'd only said it once, but felt the weight of that question so many times before Millennium came and they were forced of separate paths. Always mocking or subtly insulting her for her weakness while the answer to said mockery was always 'Yes Sir', ' Yes master' or a whispered and _playful_ 'You're mean' when she thought he couldn't hear her. A small creature never quite convinced of her own words when first spoke most of the time, but immediately changing her mind the next and agreeing in full belief of the meaning of his words or actions.

Moments pass before Seras opens her eyes. Blood obscures her view forcing her to blink a few times, but once her view is free of obstruction and she simply smiles offering a weak curl of her lips. Though it pains her she smiles and she weakly raises her right arm, trembling fingers extended, and reaches for his head touching his right cheek with the tips of her fingers.

"I wish to." Her answer is silently spoken and completely honest despite its utter weakness.

"That's my problem draculina. I've never had people 'wish' to be around me. Not without cause or hidden meaning or desire. There was always _something,_ something to gain, something to have in return from the presence of monster they had to endure."

Seras's lips part in return ready to say something more, but he's quicker in his reply, a reply that needs no prequel sentence or question to be said forehand.

"You cannot _care _for a _**thing**_ such as me. For a thing you know nothing of." You cannot 'care', love' a 'thing' such as me, a monster, a thing not worthy of being called human by his own peers. "A monster such as myself and a creature of such weakness that I could not bear the weight of a human life any longer..." His blue eyes focus on hers, narrowing as he does so, and changing the tone of his voice so that it no longer sounded so pathetic. He'd only ever spoken those words to one man, the **priest** Alexander Anderson, yet it seemed they were cursed words; cursed to forever be told in a tone of loathing and self pity for himself. He was so tired of it all, so utterly tired. "It became so redundant and meaningless. And I was so very tired of it all. But you, you are still so very _human_ little one. Draculina…" the word immediately capture her attention as he whispered it with such pride. "You strive so freely in the face of death and darkness dying with tears in your eyes each and every time, yet never for yourself or your own lost life." This time around his smile shows neither sarcasm nor irony, but a hint of melancholy instead. "I've never understood…"

"It hurts…" she whispers closing her eyes for a long moment trying to stop her breathing and just stop everything around her. Her right hand drops from his face landing on his forearm and wrist weakly grasping it as her fingers barely posses the strength they need to simply hold onto the black fabric of his sleeve. she was so very tired as well...

"The castle is crumbling." Releasing her cheek he entwines their fingers together noticing the sever difference in color. Though his was pale, not quite vampiric pale, hers was as if bordering on transparent, sickly grey and not even cold from a dysfunctional heart. She had no temperature at all, neither cold or warm. "It has once looked as beautiful as the night I brought you here after waking from the blood that poisoned you and when Elena helped bind you I made sure it stayed that way at least a moment longer. With it you were whole, yet as it crumbles so do you." He pauses, "And so do I." There was still so much he had to say and tell her. So much more he felt a need to confess to the one person…the one small scrap of miracle…he had left…

Though now was not the time. Instead the prince breaks his own train of thoughts by leaning down and tenderly kissing the middle of her forehead before capturing her lips in _perhaps_ one final kiss.

"I am…not afraid of anything…my master..." she struggled to form words and the task was made more difficult by his refusal to pull back and his insistence on keeping his mouth hovering over hers mm from touching and breath so warm and soothing. The touch is inevitable and he slowly coaxes her lips into following his for at least one moment longer.

"Eternity was never wasted on the likes of you." A black wooden stake appeared to her right laying next to her body on the soft crimson matters and sinking in ever so slightly under its own weight. "My beautiful draculina." He would end her suffering...even if it meant damning himself for all eternity to a fate worse than death, worse than being a vampire and walking the earth all alone for all time.

Humans truly were so very incomprehensible.

The azure blue of his human eyes turned blood red once more….

_To be continued….._

Thanks for reading and please leave a tiny review. It would be appreciated, I'd like to know what you think of my story so far. There's more too come, much more. :)

Bye. Shadow out.


	24. Chapter 24 AN

Author's note.

Sorry no new chapter. Unfortunately I have to put the story on hold until after (at least) November 20 maybe early December. It's the week of my exam and I have to study a lot for the first part and then I'll have to rearrange some things in my apartment and that too will take some time; I'm simply swamped at the moment so I won't really be able to edit the following chapters I had planed out so far.

On the plus side, there will definitely be some chapters ready by December.

shadow out :)


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 19**

I am finally done with my exams. So happy.

As for the story, I know I said December but refurnishing the apartment got postponed until next year so I have time to spare on my story. I will try to post once a week, the next 3-4 chapters are, mostly done and after that I have some brainstorming to do since I lost one of my notebooks in which I wrote some really good ideas…I have to rethink them, sadly.

Anyways that's mostly it for now and enjoy chapter 19.

p.s The name Cneajna from my last chapter is, in case you were wondering, the name I found to belong to Vlad's mother after some initial research and so I went ahead and used it to make the plot seem more real.

Also I hope I got all the grammar errors out of the way so, hopefully, you won't find any.

**Chapter 19**

_"__Eternity was never wasted upon the likes of you." A stake appeared to her right laying next to her body on the soft, crimson matters and sinking in ever so slightly under its own weight. "My beautiful draculina."_

_Humans truly were so very incomprehensible_

The azure blue of his human eyes turned blood red once more…

And then…when he grinned…fangs peered from under his thin, pale lips.

"Make it stop." Seras pleads weakly bringing her other hand over her side and abdomen.

"You will not close your eyes if I do." He demands further enforcing her own admission of **'waking'** when the pain would stop and all would be over. Seras inhales deeply, her back arching a few mm of the matters as particular sharp wave washes over her.

"Elena was right." Vlad caresses her left cheek trying to soothe her pain if only a little." I would ask, if only for my own selfish reasons." How bitter irony truly was.

"Master is not selfish."

"So much more than you think." He corrects her turning his attention to the stake resting beside her and by turning his head she follows until her eyes too fall of the accursed object. The wooden stake was completely black in color though the scent of fresh blood emanated for the darker parts of its body. The tip was silver, a thin metal sheet nailed into the wood itself.

"I've used it many times, some just close and others straight through the heart." Telling her this he showed her an image of his older self walking through the same field and heading towards the large, barren, black tree. He wore the same armor as seen in his memories and his long hair and cape fluttered in the night wind, eyes red and ablaze like hellfire, pearl white fangs glistening in the light of the full moon above him. His right arm reached out for one of the thicker branches breaking it off as though it were nothing but an insignificant little twig and thin as a piece of string.

"And a few times more by instigating Abraham against me. He was the one to tip my stake with silver." His tone then grew serious as did the look in his eyes. "Do you remember the cat boy Seras?"

No." she answers looking up into his face once again. "Should I?"

"His power was to exist in all plains at once, to be anywhere, everywhere and nowhere at the same time. But only if he recognized himself could he not lose purpose. And when Millennium came…"

"Who?" she interrupts him with a question most innocently asked, yet one that saddened him causing his eyes to betray him by depicting it if only for a second before he corrected it hardening his gaze anew.

"Do not concern yourself with them, they matter not. Not anymore."

"Master?"

"They matter not." He repeats bringing his right hand to her mouth and tracing her bottom lip softly with the pad of his index finger. "His blood poisoned mine and I lost myself to the many souls I had taken by the blood I drank from my victims, all 3.424.867 of them. In the end though I could recognize myself, but you could not when the same blood had been used against you. It not only broke you as it did me, but tilted the balance I had already made with my own tainted blood when that sword pierced your heart. Though I gave it to you to drink you drowned within its darkness and barely survived. You lost so much that there is perhaps no more than a thimble of your own uncorrupted blood left inside of you while the rest is mine. The very part that is still to this day keeping you alive."

"I'm here." Seras whispers, though she no longer has any strength to move at all. "I still live and…"

"All vampires die when pierced through he head or heart just as I've told in the memories shared. There was never a vampire to…there was always just me." He corrects himself with small chuckle. It was just so ironic.

"And in 600 I had time to look and _experiment_. And always, time and time again, I found myself alone in a world undead that could not understand me. I experimented though not with you, never with you draculina. You were forever different. No vampire, not ever, refused to drink offered blood." The look in his eyes became somewhat distant as the words echo around them inside the confinement of his black coffin. He then remains silent as if thinking it over while still tracing the shape of her lips and then slowly moving down her chin to the angle of her jaw.

"Master?"

He remains just as silent and distant and his hand moves lower dipping with her Adam's apple as she swallows. He stops only at the base of her throat and the thin black string circling it. He blinks banishing the haze from his eyes while casting his gaze back down meeting her crimson eyes. "So beautiful draculina…" he murmurs leaning down to capture her lips in a small caste kiss. A touch and nothing more….

Seras stands still at first, but as his lips continue to slowly move over hers teasingly caressing and coaxing them to reciprocate. She shuts her tired eyes with a sigh giving in and placing herself entirely within his trust. Strange….Yet no matter what happened, kissing the boy instead of the man never seemed to be odd and out of place. It was strange to never feel the difference or act upon it.

"I will show you…" he tells her breaking the kiss only to say those words. Black slowly tendrils encased her arms and legs without warning softly pinning her to the mattress while the bandages around her chest unraveled and faded with the exception of two: one remaining wrapped around her waist to hold her while the other moved to grab the stake bringing it directly over her heart, the tip pricking her skin and drawing a tiny and barely visible bead of blood despite the large quantity already coating the middle of her chest above her heart. "I will show you more...as promised…."

There was no warming to the pain or the feel of the stake pushing through her chest crushing bone and tearing flesh as it plowed though her ribcage heading straight for her heart. "Your heart never healed. I will see it done now." The harshness and confidence of his words echoes around the enclosed space of the large coffin. They were the last words she heard before the heavy scent of her blood and darkness surrounded her swallowing her whole. Sound disappeared and her back arched despite the tendril holding her down. "And once it is done…"

Everything went…black….

Then it comes…sharp and brutal and excruciating as though she were engulfed in ice cold water hundreds of degrees below the freezing point. Her eyelids snapped open to her body falling into nothingness, a dark void which gave off the distinct g sensation of drowning and sinking into an endless pool of water. She sank further and further distancing herself from the sole source of crimson light high above. It kept getting small, smaller and smaller, until it became but a fleck on a large wide window. Masses of blood surrounded her leaking from her body. The crimson tendrils swirled around her while also moving upward like blotches of ink purposely released into a glass of clean water. They mixed with her silver hair, mixed with the water and the darkness as she continued to fall further and deeper into the endless abyss distancing herself from the warmth and comfort of the crimson light above…master's coffin...

Was this death?

The first part of the dissent, as her eyes had just opened, took place in a slow and steady pace which allowed her body to fall backwards until it assumed a fully horizontal position. Afterwards, once the blood came, she felt like dropping hard, fast with no purpose whatsoever then to simply fall deeper and deeper into despair and lose herself entirely to the cold and welcoming darkness; darkness she was yet to feel for the first time...

_**There is but one chance to survive…**_

Her head tilted back exposing the arch of her throat and her small Adams' apple; her face was lost to the darkness, the blood and the silver strands. Every ounce of life energy was leaving her the more she descended into the unknown void.

_**A thimble…there is but a thimble left…**_

Both the words and the voice creating them appeared as a gentle and hesitating whisper that grew along the path of her demise. Hope or false hope, she could not even tell if it was real or not. And still her right arm rose leaving the safety of her body reaching for something her eyes could not see. Hope maybe…the thimble or just the haunting voice so beautifully whispered. Then the small, barely visible crimson dot high above her head disappeared and bright blinding light surrounded her.

_"It was fun to watch, you being the only who could relate to my presence being there."_

Seras's eyes snapped open to a room and no longer cold and empty space filled with nothing but darkness. A cold floor…she lay upon a cold stone floor, the frail remains of the bandages still tightly wrapped around her bare chest and the black pants covering legs though her feet were bare. Her long silvery hair was pooled all around her shoulders and upper body like a halo marred with streaks of blood. And as the haunting voice continued to speak her head lazily turned to the right were a second body, far larger than hers and cloaked by a white sheet, lay beside her though the sheet was mostly stained in blood.

_"No one else saw, though I used to walk right beside them….I would whisper and I would talk…and would forever be damned to the stillness of the shadows…"_

To her left lay another body though smaller and much more petite in size, just like her…just like…

Seras's vision cleared a bit more and…**it was her**…Her hair was short and strawberry blonde, bangs and blood covering her face, and her clothing consisted of a crimson red uniform, shirt and skirt, and black thigh high socks. A crooked sword, a bayonet, was sticking out of her chest as a trickle of blood seeped from the right corner of her mouth.

"Seras…" Her head jerks back into place looking up and into the face of the young blue eyed, raven haired boy hovering over her. The twin bodies remain around her though the emptiness around her changes.

"See that?" he tells her gesturing with his head forward silently urging her to stand up and look for herself. "I used to walk through the halls and no one would see."

Complying Seras pushes herself up on her elbows sitting up with great effort and keeping her back to the boy. And in front of her was a whole other world, images playing out before her eyes.

_It was a room in the dungeon, her room to be exact, and she could see herself there sleeping in a bed, covers drawn up to her waist and the thin strip of her top down over her left shoulder as she lay on her right side with her right hand beneath the pillow and the left a bit over it. A dark brown coffin was close by, though not used and without the lid being open. And next to her, sitting on the bed, was…_

"I only ever go a reaction from you." He tells her coming closer to stand by her right side and watch the image unfold with her. "No one else could see me or feel me...touch me as you could. I was a ghost to everyone but you. Pale shadow banished to darkness…lost…"

_The boy sat on the bed, blue eyes sad yet content to watching her sleep as his right hand slowly moved down her bare shoulder tracing its slender curve with the back of his fingers. Seras hummed softly curling further into the warmth of her pillow and making the boy smile. As his hand moved upward finding her cheek she would lean into his touch whispering a very soft 'master' that could barely be heard and curl her body just a tad more into the warm sheets. A moment later Vlad's left hand slipped beneath her left, fingers curling and entwining with hers while waiting for hers to squeeze back as he allowed himself the simple pleasure of lying down next to her by placing his head on the pillow next to their joined hands. He doesn't say a word. He does nothing but smile softly when his patience is reward a few moments later when she not only squeezes back but pulls their joined hand closer to her chest and head burring them under her chin._

"If I could be anywhere I wanted, everywhere at the same time just like the cat boy, I experimented and found that it could easily be done as I wished. But when I tried go further, tap deeper into that power, I found myself looking into my own eyes."

_The image before them shifted and instead of the neatly decorated room an empty one took its place with hardly any furniture at all except for the throne like chair, the small table and the pitch black coffin. Two figures were in the middle of the room, one tall and standing the other short and in the process of getting up from the floor. Blue eyes starred back at crimson, yet both seemed equally emotionless when faced with each other; both having the exact same expression that…_

"We don't really get along you know, him and I." The prince whispers smiling though his words are sarcastic and his smile an ironic one. "I'm still…I still pretend at being _human_ while he pretends being an emotionless t…" there he pauses anew closing his eyes and, with a much softer smile, changes the subject. It would not do to tell her all his secrets just yet. Nevertheless he shows her more even if it meant revealing his words in another fashion.

"_We're hurting her." Vlad said as he sat barefoot on the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest and both arms wrapped around his legs. The sleeping form of the stardust haired beauty lay on his left in a semi fetal position: legs drawn up and arm holding tightly to one of the pillows for support. Her sleep was peaceful and she made absolutely no sound at all. Both the creased sheet and dark grey cape were wrapped around her petite frame in protective fashion so that only her calves some of the upper body stuck out from under them. Her arms and the upper portion of her back, the shoulder blades mostly, were left exposed to the touch of the night's air yet even they were somewhat covered by rebel silvery white strands as the majority of those silky locks lay over and under her right side. The thin red ribbon with a golden dragon was tied around her left wrist._

Seras looked down at her wrist in sheer reflex seeing the same small bangle wrapped around it anew. However, as the conversation between the two continued, she didn't have much time to ponder over the fact in question.

"_We shouldn't do this anymore." His head dropped so that he could rest his forehead on his knees. His words were met with silence from the elder whose back remained turned towards him shielded by the thick curtain of long, wavy raven hair and the white shirt beneath it. The vampire stood facing the open balcony door of the circular room she remembered waking in back at the castle just two steps from crossing the threshold and stepping out into the night. The sky was getting darker as clouds rapidly covered the full moon blown by the strong wind dominating the uncivilized mountain range. _

_Alucard's head turned halfway but his crimson eyes remained hidden. The flickering light of the two candles posted on the only bedside table left of the bed accentuated the light scuff of his dark beard. By saying nothing he had already given a more than satisfactory answer._

"_The pain's starting again." Vlad continued after that long silence. He turned to glance at the sleeping figure of the young draculina next to him. His eyes held an incredibly soft expression. "She'll sleep for a long time."_

"_Make sure you take care of her there. That's your priority, when the time comes." Alucard replied and as he spoke he turned from the window and started pacing through the room, his boots making no sound at all as they touched the stone floor. _

"_Why do this? We shouldn't make her endure this. It is cruel."_

"_She was happy, it's all that matters."_

"_Don't say that!" the prince shouted as though enraged by the lack of sentiment from his companion, __**himself**__, in spite of the events not moments old. His hands balled into fists. "Don't," he sobbed, shoulders starting to tremble without the slightest control. "Don't say it like that. And she's not happy, she doesn't know __**happy**__! She died…"_

"_You __**loved**__ it. The utter surrender she showed to __**us**__!"_

_The way in which the vampire spoke 'love' brought on searing pain in the boy's heart. Every word that came from that mouth was devoid of any emotion; they were just facts and events either passed or soon to take place._

"_We weren't supposed to. You're the one who promised never again!" Vlad raised his head and uncovered his guild written face. Yes, it was true. He had 'loved it' as it were. How couldn't he have when it shown so beautifully, so sincerely from the young draculina? When he'd never had such 'love' in his lonely life. When every drop of her depleting blood was utterly…_

"_I'm not the one who gave in." again the words cut in deep. Genuine tears of regret flowed freely like a river from the child's eyes. She would not understand and she would __**not **__forgive when 'the time came' as his other self put it. They'd taken advantage of that one moment of weakness on her behalf to pray victim to their own moment of weakness. Nothing would change that. And he knew most of all the 'horror' of being at someone else's mercy and sick desire no matter the circumstances. Finally, not bearing it any longer Vlad shouted whilst crying: "__**Let me tell her!**__"_

_The crystal clear drops fly away from his face in the sudden move his head makes while doing so. It takes less than a heartbeat for the answer to come. A strong, firm hand marred with an ancients seal grabs hold of the front of his black shirt and pulls him violently over the bed frame. His knees retain the contact with the soft mattress but the upper half of his body stays suspended over the edge of the bed and the headboard as the elder's hand holds him tightly. _

"_**Do not!**_**"**_ Alucard threatens in all seriousness while leaning down towards the distraught boy. His crimson eyes bore into his own with incredible malice and anger at the ocean blue orbs committed to the sinful act of 'crying'. "Do not." He repeats much calmer, but just as strongly and imposing. Still, a fresh new wave of crystal clear drops leak from the boy's eyes and trickle down his face in defiance._

"_She's everything." The youngling whispers with a broken yet true voice. The hurt in his eyes and heart reflects genuine despair in those three single words. The two stared each other down a while longer before the vampire snarls, releases his collar and pushes the boy backwards on the bed rather forcefully. He watches for a second or so longer then straightens his posture and turns his back to him. The fingers of his hands clench so tight his knuckles turn pure white in comparison to the otherwise ivory white tone of his skin. He then stood in silence and listened as the mattress bobbed with the boy's movement upon it._

_After being pushed down Vlad braced his fall with his elbows. His body lay sprawled on the bed next to the draculina's still sleeping form with his knees the only part still bent as they had retained their initial position after being lifted up and pulled forward. _

"_You may tell her anything but that." Alucard tells the other side of his soul after lastly calming down. His tone no longer sounded so impartial or as emotionless as it had before. Vlad quietly sits up, but holds his head down nonetheless. The new position offered his tears a new path down his thin cheeks and chin; they stained the mattress one round drop after another. _

"_She stays with us." Vlad said through silent tears whishing his words to come out as a question and not a fact though they never did. The truth of the matter was that it wasn't a question to be asked at all, it was a reality; cruel and selfish just as he'd created it._

"_Then why is this day such __**sin**__?" the elder countered._

"_I don't want her to __**hate**__ me."_

_Vlad cried whispering that fateful sentence whereas the vampire merely grimaced sarcastically, the left corner of his upper lip curling upward. "Seras doesn't…"_

_Just as he said her name the draculina sighed in her sleep and pulled her legs closer to her chest accentuating the fetal position she rested in. Her left hand slipped form beneath the cover of the pillow in the wake of her sweet, innocent sigh coming dangerously close to the young boy. The red of the ribbon leaped into life as soon as it touched the grey and white covers, sheet and cape. Vlad's tears increased tenfold and he gasped out loud pleading. _

"_Let me…"_

"_No!" he was cut down by the intensity of the growl before he could do anymore damage. "She has survived without us before. She will again."_

"_But I need her! __**I need her**__!" and that was the truth, nothing but the genuine truth. The young prince's heart was breaking and there wouldn't be anyone to pick up the pieces and put them back together. He wanted one thing to be his and his alone; one thing in the miserable and retched existence of his own failed and unwanted life. One thing…was that so mush to ask for…to pray for…._

_Even so, Alucard's next words had him looking up in wonder at the man before him._

"_You're the one who gets to say goodbye." the tone used was filled with sorrow and acceptance. Alucard's head was turned facing the young vampire and his sorrowful ruby eyes starred down at her roaming slowly and discreetly over her body many times over yet always stopping for a second or two more over her face and over her parted full rosy lips which offered just a glimpse at the pointy fangs resting below the surface. "You know just as I do that to have glory is to bask in its presence till the very end however fleeting it may be. And one day I won't be there, just you." Moving his left hand over the surface of the small table next to the bed he picks up the small black box resting on top of it._

"_I don't want to hear it."_

_"Yet you want to tell her." Alucard replies in a mocking manner. "More so you want t…"_

_"I want to see something more than darkness and cold each time I close my eyes or open them. Just as you do and have for so long a time a now. You at least live; I just bask in death and the crumbs you throw me." The boy says interrupting him. A moment later though the tone of his voice lowers becoming a tiny whisper filled with sadness. "The world never cared about me. You at least they fear, you they learned to fear, to respect, but I don't even exist. They don't even __**see**__ me." Raising his head he turns it to watch s sleep. "And you've never let me see her since that night. I must always go before she wakes. I must always be __**nothing**__."_

_"And if she saw you what then? You __**are**__ nothing…a faded past unworthy of remembering. What is there to see in the likes of you?"_

_The words were beyond cruel, and cruelty itself was a kind word to be used. And it was at that moment that Seras sighed for a second time, though far lighten then before. The boy's attention was once again drawn to her as he slowly began wiping the moisture from his face and reddened cheeks with the back of his right sleeve. Her hand, her skin…they were so inviting. They were a touch he could he have, hope within the void his world had become. At least he could __**touch**__ and __**see**__ her._

_"It doesn't matter." The boy replies reaching out for her bare shoulder and tenderly tracing it with the tips of his fingers. "As long as she just…__**saw**__ me..."_

"And you did." He whispers still looking at her face never having taken his eyes off her as she followed the scene with the utmost interest. She only turned to look at him when he softly spoke to her as the image disappeared, fading into nothingness. "And I've always wanted to meet you."

"What must you tell me?" she asks.

"The lie that was once the truth."

_"Don't you dare….don't you dare leave me!" Seras screamed from the pit of her lungs before cutting her hand on his sharp teeth. Her entire underarm was bleeding due to three deep cuts she made appear letting the rich crimson fill his mouth and run down his throat as her other hand massaged it to make the liquid go down._

Seras immediately turned to look at the sound of her own voice screaming in desperation. But the scene before her eyes, her and the large black wolf she was feeding some of her blood too, made no sense.

_The silver bullets were pushed out of his body, bones resetting, flesh healing and wounds closing up. His spine fusing, nerves connecting with each other and making him his own body once more. His chest quickly moved up and down inhaling her intoxicating scent, a growl like moan leaving his opened mouth as he registered her body so very close to him as she'd fallen over him, right on his chest, her head resting on his throat just next to his right shoulder as she lay on her left side. Her skin still glowed in the light of the moon, a thin lair of crimson sweat covering it as the last of her shadows retracted into her soul and left her flesh exposed to his hungry gaze._

_Turning on his side he moved the arm she was resting on so his hand could take hold of her slender waist as he supported himself on that elbow. The other one he place on the right side of her face and throat. Motionless she laid there within his strong arms, her head tilted back as he began to lick the blood from under her chin and then her shoulder. _

_"Seras…" His deep voice purred in pure lust and pleasure. "…..sweet, beautiful Seras…."_

"I don't understand. What is this…"

"Just look." Vlad tells her keeping his eyes focused on the yet again shifting scene urging her to do the same. A cave appeared next. And in it…

_"What did I do to you?" She asks the pitch black wolf._

_"You connected your soul to mine and sent me a piece of it. Like I did to you __**four years ago**__ when Iscariot hurt you badly and you then followed me around like a lost puppy for nearly a month. We were connected."_

_"Can I do it again?"  
><em>

The question wasn't offered adequate reply as the image faded before any could be given.

"That is the lie, all of it and yet just part of it." He says with an audible sigh. "We did connect, but not then and not like that. That is the first lie. Whereas the second one is the very scene you saw. Everything, from that moment mentioned, '_four years ago when Iscariot hurt you' _was the lie I let you live with in utter ignorance of what truly happened_. _The truth was you in that bed while we argued, the truth was…" He pauses allowing the darkness in front of them to begin shifting in preparation for what was to come. "It was a year not a month that you lost and in that time I…"

"I don't want to see."

She interrupts him shutting her eyes lowering and turning her head to the left at the same time. Her long bangs fall forward over her shoulders covering her face. Yet regardless of her actions new images formed begging to be looked at.

_Figures were beginning to appear out of the dark mist: Seras running down the halls of the dungeon towards her master's chamber wearing an emerald green Victorian styled dress and golden pendant hanging from her throat. The sound of her boots slowly growing in intensity the clearer the image became._

"You must." He calmly requests while reaching for her right shoulder with his right hand. He's almost close enough to touch the ball of her shoulder, a few mm more, when he stops seeing them shake. He could barely notice it at first, but when the sound of her voice calling 'master' and the squeak of the large metal door reaches them both he would have been a fool to further ignore her silent plea. She jerked form his touch whispering…

"Please…" so softly…so sadly…

His head lowers eyes saddening at the notion. The shadows stop parting and the image comes to a halt just as the door is opened and Seras steps in wearing than damned green Victorian dress.

"You have to see." He whispers in return in the same pleading manner. "Please."

"I don't want to." She tells him a second time raising her head and straightening her shoulders.

"You won't understand if I don't show yo…."

"No!" she shouts turning to face him and her crimson eyes blaze red with anger as a newly born fire startling him. Vlad gasps in surprise remaining silent, yet as soon as he does the fire in her tone and eyes dies out with remorse taking over. Her gaze drops lips parting as she speaks anew. "I…" she sighs and her eyes close. "I don't want to see anymore."

"Seras…"

"I don't hate you."

Her words render him silent and it's quite the sight for her, as she reopens her eyes, to see the way his features change right in front of her: they go from sadness over her refusal, to surprise and disbelief the next and then, finally, wonder and…

"I don't need to see. You don't have to show me. It's enough…it doesn't matter…I…" Her smile is soft and genuine as her right hand reaches for his cheek brushing a few loose raven strands behind his ear. "I won't hate you."

"Why?" he can't help but ask, yet again amazed by her words. She 'stays', she doesn't hate, she trusts all so easily. Why? _Why_? **Why**? There it was again, that god damned word he was beginning to despise from the bottom of his cursed soul **'WHY?**' Was there any other form of torture worse than that god forsaken word and its answer? There must be, there has to be. He's seen hell, he's lived through it and the flames it spewed…death was a helpless child compared to the things he's done, suffered and seen. So why? Why?

His eyes search her face, but it doesn't betray the smallest of emotion. She just keeps smiling and caressing his cheek…in silence….bitter, agonizing silence. Yet soothing and comfortable silence at the same time while the shadows moved to cover whatever image from the past he would have still needed to show her. "Why can't you…" he begins to ask with a genuine hint of desperation as to why she keeps refusing to answer. Why? It was such a simple question, so simple. I don't' hate because….because…**Why?** Why couldn't she just tell him why? Was it so much to ask for? Was it…was so hard **to** **hate him** as he rightfully deserved?

She leans her resting her forehead against his never stopping to caress his cheek or smile. He doesn't even notice the tears running down his face until her thumb softly wipes them away.

"I can see you…" her lips brush against his forehead whispering soft and tender words into his ears. "I'll always see you my master." She pauses. "Don't cry."

Vlad closes his eyes leaning into her touch a little more. "I am **not** your master." He hisses as though spewing venom from his lips whishing now with all his might that she would just _**hate**_ him. Tears fall and he's helpless to stop them. "The stake went though your heart and..." His voice drops almost breaking at the feel of her lips brushing the corner of his mouth in a feather like touch barely noticed. Seras only hums in reply acknowledging his words in a gesture that tears at his soul worse than the sharpest weapon. She then moves her hand from his cheek over to the back of his head and her fingers play with a few charcoal strands as they treaded through them at a slow and soothing pace.

The prince is left unable to raise his head and look her in the eyes. How can he? In that one gesture she's condemned him to hell. His head drops lower till his black bangs hide his face away.

**For the love and glory of God just** **hate me!** Why can't you **hate** me?** Why? Why?** **Why?** He can't help but scream over and over…is mind so utterly numb that everything around them crumbles. Hate me…hate me…scream, shout, insult or just hit me. Anything…anything but the retched blissful hung she was giving him. Love…

God he was beginning to hate that word, hate it with every fiber of his being.

**Just hate me!**

He screams with everything he's got, every ounce of self loathing he can find.

**Just…hate m…why?...why?...why?...**

He never finishes that train of though despite the urgency and rapid flow of his words as a last resort to have her listen to him, to have her acknowledge the utter disgrace that he was. His shoulders tremble and his voice is lost and broken. He's so useless…such **nothing**. The dirt she tramples upon has more worth than him. He can't even look at her.

He can't feel the touch as her mouth covers his drowning up the sound of his voice, his mind and his suffering in a matter of seconds; soft, moist and fleeting.

_Bliss…_

Then it all goes black and he's pushed out of her mind…for good.

The silence that follows is unbearable.

_**Why can't you just hate me?**_

.

.

.

_Why can't you just hate me?_

The sound of the boy's broken voice echoes in the dark, dust filled room of the underground mausoleum from within the pitch black coffin hidden inside the broken sarcophagus.

_A prince does not cry…_

_._

_Why…do you __**love**__ me?_

.

.

Silence was all that God left him with.

.

.

.

The hall was quite and empty when Elena reemerged from Integra's room having left her and the small infant safely asleep under the power of her spell, a spell that would not break until the early hours of the next day and the first rays of sun rising up from behind the distant horizon.

"Master!" she wasn't even half way down the hall when the sudden screech stopped her in her tracks making her turn to look over her right shoulder. A black portal formed on the wall next to her, her fledgling falling out of his and dropping to her knees utterly exhausted, clothes tattered and stained with her own blood.

"Madalene." Elena whispers keeping the tone of her voice, a quality her the younger vampire lacks entirely when calling _master_ urgently a second time, her expression one of utter joy and happiness a seeing her creator.

"I…I was attacked…the hound h…"

"Not so loud young one." Elena softly interrupts her placing her right hand on top of her head soothingly before helping her to her feet. "Now calm yourself and explain what has happened."

"I was attacked by a pack my master." Madalene tells her after taking a calming deep breath and pushing her now wild hair out of her face. "The…that demon hound leaning it. I have not seen a familiar act in such a way. Its master wasn't even there."

"You sound certain." Elena replies, lips curling in a knowing smile. "Perhaps not the one you were expecting."

"The castle crumbled beneath me!" she suddenly shouts a little upset at her master impersonal answer. Had she not send her there knowingly of the danger? Shouldn't she be a _little_ more concerned? "Everything fell. Everything and fucking wolves chased me all over it trying to get to my throat that monster inclu…"

"I warned precaution for a reason Madalene." She is interrupted once more, yet her master remains calm and assertive in her reply. "That is not to say, however, that I do not value or understand the risk I have placed upon you by sending you there alone. That he would protect her was to be expected, I merely misjudged the degree to which he would go to achieve it. Still," she pauses for a moment before asking. "What do you mean the castle fell? There was never anything wrong with that structure except for its age. It could never crumble."

"It did my master. I have seen and lived it. There is almost nothing there any longer. The deep ravine was the only thing that kept those creatures from tearing me apart. I know what I saw."

"Was she there?"

"I don't know." Madalene tells her after an initial moment to ponder the correct answer. "The only thing I saw were the creatures, but there was one thing that I…that I found _disturbing_ so to speak. The entire castle reeked of blood my master. It was faint and not easily noticed but when I was pushed to the ground by one of the wolves the scent became clear and from that moment on I could find it everywhere I turned. They chased me for a while but as more and more of the structure gave way the scent became more potent, dominant."

"Did you recognize it?"

"No." she shakes her head in denial. "I couldn't even place it master. It wasn't fresh blood, but it didn't reek of proper aging either. I don't know for sure, but it…it seemed as though fresh…as though the entire building had been bathed red."

"Perhaps…it was…" Elena whispers lost in thought before turning her attention back to her fledgling with a soft smile. "Come, I will she you cleaned and fed. We'll talk more later and see what the night yet holds for us".

The cards may prove themselves useful, if not only time would unfold its secrets at the proper moment. They could but wait, wait as it once had been asked of her while binding that poor soul to bricks made of blood.

And perhaps, one of these days, her intuition just might prove itself wrong since for now it seemed to be far to right and accurate.

"Interesting." Elena whispered to herself rearranging the cards a third time that half hour. The same ones kept coming up: strength, the chariot and…death, always death. Several hours had passed since her talk with her young fledgling and now, as she sat in her chair by the glow of a warm fire, the cards became her newest occupation.

"Is something wrong master?" her fledgling Madalene asks looking up from the book she had been reading on the windowsill. A new snow storm had broken out with flakes upon flakes of frozen water falling one after another as the sky wept during the cold night. They were in a large study, the walls lined with bookcases and paintings, a warm fire going in the corner, frost decorating the windows in intricate patters. A round mahogany table was in the center of the room, various cards spread on its surface and the auburn haired vampire sitting at on a chair behind it.

"The cards still link us, yet I've broken the ties." Elena replied placing two more cards in front of her. "We are tied by death but then the empress overlaps in a dark secret. Death comes twice."

"What does that mean?" the brown haired fledgling asked as she placed her book down and walked over to her master. Having changed her clothes from her prior ordeal that night she now wore a dark purple sweater, black pants and shoes and had her short hair tied back in a very small ponytail. She looked at the cards over her master's left shoulder.

"It is strange. The empress does not belong in either group any longer, but the seed she carries continues to hang in the balance. I have only one fool, infinite possibility, and he will come. Yet at the same time it's all a possibility leading into death itself. Death and burning despair and this night, like the last, will not end well."

"Why?"

Elena still had cards in need of turning, but her hand stopped on top of one of them; anxiety suddenly washing over her. Anxiety and fear….a dark shadow descending…

"She's here." Elena then says in a hushed tone just before a powerful gust of wind struck the side of the house rattling the windows almost shattering them. At the same time all the light inside the villa shut down and the fire burned out as if blown out by a storm. Haunting stillness, silence took control over the room; the calm before the storm. A terrifying neigh resounding throughout the very halls of the villa as a powerful blow struck the front door one level below forcing it open. The temperature within the room dropped drastically, the lights failed to come back and the shadows flickered to life. They moved up the walls slowly and silently and curled up along the structures towards the ceiling. Deep and ragged breath reached the vampire's ears; a darkness lurking in the shadows touched their senses revealing itself to their third eye.

The elder of the two sat up. She waited a moment, just one, and then took the card in question in her hand and left the room. The double doors of the study opened on their own allowing her passage as white mist lined the wooden floor and carpet of the hallway. The window on the farthest end by the staircase was open, the cold winter wind blowing through it moving both the thin cream curtains and the mist flowing inside.

"Master?" Madalene asked uneasy as the two walked across the hall and finally reached the top of the stairs.

"You will wait here until I call for you."

"No!" she refused to let go of her sire's arm. Distress lined her voice. It was a dread she could not explain and it coursed through her entire body at a frightening intensity. It was more than simple fear, it was something else. And it was a sensation she grew to know intimately well only a few hours ago.

"Madalene." Elena spoke with calm. "A child of darkness must no fear the dark. Wait until I call."

Her footsteps were light and without a sound were it not for the hum generated by the fabric of her long dress. Each step bought her closer and closer to the front door and the source the cold and the darkness. The ragged breath intensified and the front doors stood open before her. The sky roared with thunder, snow continued to fall and darkness continued to spread up her house drowning it all. Elena reached the edge the porch. Her crimson eyes locked onto the mysterious figure shrouded in darkness and lurching in the distance several feet away.

"You've come."

The dark silhouette began to move forward and the sound of metal horseshoes clanged loudly against the clean stone pavement leading up to the house. The large black stallion held his head down and long wavy mane hid his face while the breath from his lungs passed from his parted lips and nose in a cloud like fashion. His neigh was deep, a deep throated sound reverberating from his large chest. The cloaked figure on his back was silent and continued to remain so as the stallion slowly continued to advance along the stone slabs leading up to the porch. His front right foot struck the ground four times repeatedly before he raised his head snorting, the sound low and long. His left crimson eyes met the vampire's as the other continued to remain hidden behind the long midnight black bangs covering the right side of his face. "_**Seras Victoria**_."

The wind howled violently playing with the horse's mane and tail as well as the long black cloak the figure wore. The stallion rose on his hind legs neighing from the pit of his lung before his hooves came crushing down cracking the stone beneath them. The hidden card in Elena's left hand was blown away, the bloody sight of mangled temperance swaying in the wind before touching the virgin snow.

Flashback

_Why can't you just hate me?_

The sound of the boy's broken voice echoes in the dark, dust filled room of the underground mausoleum from within the pitch black coffin hidden inside the broken sarcophagus.

_A prince does not cry…_

_._

_Why…do you __**love**__ me?_

.

.

Silence was all that God left him with.

_As is the sound of the boy's broken voice echoes in the dark and dust filled room of the mausoleum from within the pitch black coffin hidden inside the broken sarcophagus. Silence is all that greats him in return._

_And he continued to call and shout and shake her shoulders for what seemed the umpteenth time without any sort of reply on her behalf whatsoever. Her head continued to rest on his lap, blood trickling from her parted lips, while the rest of her body gave no sign of life. She was as still and quite as the literal dead. The bloody stake lay by her right side staining the crimson bedding in her blood as the dark colored liquid dripped from its tip. Blood also trickled down her bare torso and abdomen from the large, dark, circular wound located directly over her heart in the form of small rivulets instead of a strong and fluent torrent. Fingertip marks were also marring her chest as he'd tried to stop the blood from flowing._

_"Draculina…" the prince calls searching her face and caressing her right cheek without obtaining adequate answer from her. His hands were bloodstained and smearing her cheeks, her shoulders, her mouth…nothing was working. "Wake up…" he beseeches cupping both sides of her face once more and tilting her head back a little. Despair creped into his blue eyes, hurt anger and loathing …yet so much despair. He leans over her wrapping both arms around her throat and burying his face into the crook of her neck on the left side. She had no temperature, no heartbeat or breath to pass from her slightly parted pale, bluish lips. So utterly cold...so utterly __**dead**__…__**DEAD**__._

_Warm tears dripped down his face touching her skin as he silently weeps unable to deal with the sudden and indescribable feeling of hurt and inadequacy washing over him. The situation was forever out his hands and the silence was unbearable. _

_No one would ever see him…no one…he'd let her burn in the wake of his selfish and arrogant desire. And now that very craving and egotism stripped him bare of the last genuine speck of pride left within his broken down soul._

_But then…_

_**Don't cry…**_

_The words come simultaneously with the tender, tiny touch upon the side of his head making him gasp in surprise. His eyes snap open with a loud gasp while the rest of his body jerks upward at the sudden and unexpected touch. And as his head hovers over hers, back hunched over and messy raven hair framing his face on either side, the same soft touch came up to his left cheek in a feather like caress that brushed his cheekbone with the pads of her index and middle finger. Clear tears trickle in the form of thin rivulets from the corners of his eyes before successfully joining under his chin and dipping and on her left cheek close to the corner of her mouth. He watched in wander as the twin pools of freshly spilled blood slowly, weakly opened looking up into his face and rosy lips curled in a tiny, beautiful smile. Her hand continued to brush the tears from the left side of his face._

_She hadn't the strength to whisper not one word and her voice lacked the necessary vigor to push the slightest amount of air passed her vocal cords. _

_**A thimble was enough.**_

_**A thimble was more than enough…**_

_And when strength leaves her completely her limb drops from his face onto her left shoulder with a tired sigh and her eyelids closed, body succumbing to the sweet allure of sleep it so badly craved. _

_"No don't'!" he shouts long before his mind perceives the words as spoken out loud and puts an end to the somewhat loud pitched tone and the concern and uneasiness poisoning his voice. It was nothing more than a fear induced reflex and reaction to the possibility of those beautiful crimson eyes never opening again. Yet Seras weakly opens her eyes once more taking in a deep breath as one would when waking from a deep sleep, the very one he was denying her. The sheer panic in his voice overrides her base instinct to sleep and heal. Her eyelids remain half closed and the response has an immediate calming effect on the violent storm raging inside the boy's ocean colored eyes._

_**I'm tired…**_

_A simpler statement couldn't possibly exist from gazing into those tired eyes. His head lowers anew seeking the crook of her neck and the warm and genuine comfort it brought. _

_"Sleep." His lips softly brush against her pulse point, his embrace tightening ever so slowly around her throat. She was warm…so warm…alive…_

_He did not stop her this time._

Flashback end

The vampire raised her head and her eyes shone from the shadow of the black hood. Elena stepped aside gesturing towards the opened front door with her right hand.

"Please." She patiently offered waiting for her to make her decision. The draculina however, hesitated and instead continued to keep her eyes firmly locked on the woman in front of her; her gaze appeared distrusting and analytical. She urged the horse forward, just a few more steps, and it was only then that Elena noticed the second cloak swaying in the wind beneath that of the white haired vampire's. And with it came the unmistakable scent of blood….an unnatural fragrance…

Elena stepped forward without a word instantly recognizing the unique scent hidden beneath the stench of death. She then pulled the hem of her dress up to walk down the front stairs of her home and released it when done taking four more steps to stop about a foot's distance from the large black stallion.

"What have you done?" her tone is nothing but a faded whisper deeply seeded in disbelieve as her eyes fall on the second figure riding behind the draculina and desperately clinging to her form, crimson staining the limbs peering out from under the dark cloak. Her question isn't even directed at the vampire in front of her, but the pair of hazy blue eyes clearing suffering behind her.

Seras let go of the horse's reins gently caressing the left side of the stallion's throat before carefully dismounting as not to harm the boy. The latter merely looked on in silence turning his gaze form the red headed vampire to the white haired one and watching as she took one extra second to place her right hand over the horse's muzzle and affectionately pet him. The horse nickered warmly in return stomping on the ground next to her feet once as though saying he understood her silent request. When done she let him go and turned to face Elena taking that one step that separated them.

"I need help." She whispers pushing the hood of her head.

_To be continued…_

Till next time and please leave a teeny, tiny review. Some feedback would be really appreciated.

Shadow out_._


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 20**

**Here's chapter 20. This one was again only one chapter at first, but I redid some of the dialog and plotlines and the whole thing got far bigger. The rest will be posted in chapter 21. **

A new dawn broke over the sleepy city a few 1-2 later. As the hidden sun rose from behind the horizon, its light casting a faint glow over the white blanket of snow covering each street, building or piece of exposed ground, some of it found a crack in of the taller, more majestic looking buildings defenses and passed through the tiny opening. The light breeze accompanying it provided the necessary cover and pass point as it moved the alongside the thick dark brown curtains and paved the path for it to enter and touch the intricate pattern of the carpet. A lone figure, her back facing the window, slept under the cover of the king sized bed, the covers drawn up to her chin, short and no longer uneven platinum hair spilled over one of the twin white pillows and cream colored bedspread. On the other side of the bed, resting it the very place the second pillow should have been, lay a small bundle all wrapped up in a soft lilac blanket sleeping soundly.

Unknown to the sleeping woman a third figure quietly opened the door and stepped inside the room. Still wearing the raven cloak and hood around her body Seras crossed the room until she reached the foot of the bed where she pealed back the hood off of her head. The little baby next to Integra's sleeping form started to stir and eventually woke up just as the vampire silently knelt by her side. Her big round eyes, just as blue as her mothers or perhaps her fathers, fixed themselves on her pale face in greeting. It was as though she had felt the young woman's presence and smiled as bright as any newborn baby could when give the attention she wanted. She gurgled and began kicking her tiny arms and legs beneath the blanket wrapped around her.

Seras carefully picked her up and stood to her feet with the small infant securely cradled in her arms. She offered a light smile of her own, a mere upwards curl of the lip, and ran one elegant finger down the length of her tiny round cheek after which she just as silently left the room and its still sleeping occupant.

It was about half an hour or so later that the platinum haired woman stirred awake as well. She was warm and comfortable and the bed silently lured her into a deeper form of slumber anew. It tempted her for but a moment before her eyes immediately snapped open scared and desperately searching for the one that shot her, Heinkel's face the last thing she remembered as the room burned around her. She quickly stood up not noticing at first her missing child and the large swell of her womb. The movement was far too sudden and fluent and completely different than what it should have been had the baby still been with her. And as the realization hit her, and hit her hard it did, hands immediately went for her womb and the life within only to come up empty; bitter and cold emptiness. Her abdomen was perfectly flat as though nothing had grown within her for the passed several months; no life and no tiny heartbeat or strong kicks silently and playfully saying 'I'm here' so sweetly. And in her panic she quickly got out of the bed kicking the blanket to the side still feeling each and every inch of her missing womb with her hands. It was empty…**empty**…

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes the more time passed and her surroundings went entirely unnoticed until she calmed sufficiently for the soft melodic sound coming from behind the door of her foreign room to reach her. The door was ajar never having been closed once Seras had taken the baby allowing the sound to echo between rooms. It was in that moment and gripped by sheer desperation that Integra ran towards the partially open door swinging it open in a violent manner before barging in the adjacent room. There she found a woman with long and straight silvery hair playing the grand ebony black piano in the middle of the room several feet from the door. The large study also held beautiful Victorian style furniture consisting of a couch to the left of the door with a small coffee table in front of it and two matching arm chairs around the latter. Large windows framed by caramel colored curtains circled the walls and bathe the room in a beautiful glow as the sunlight seeped through the second layer of curtains, far thinner and transparent than the first and a light cream in color to match the much darker shade. Then a tiny gurgle caught her attention, barely a tiny whisper, yet dissipating almost all of the distress filling her soul. Her head turned towards the couch without hesitation and found a tiny infant curled in her lavender blanket almost sound asleep once again lured in by the soft, melodic lullaby.

"She woke," Seras said as she continued to play the sound of her voice immediately dissolved Integra's fears regarding who the white haired person was. It was after all a voice not easily forgotten. "I did not wish for her to wake you as well." The baby cooed anew, her tiny feet weekly kicking against the blanket one last time before sleep took over entirely.

Seras stopped plying for a second as if awaiting the young woman's actions, but restarted right after as if to soothe the now sleeping child. At the same time, Integra slowly walked forward heading towards the corner couch and the tiny creature standing out like a sore thumb against the cream and white colors due to the lavender hue of the blanket wrapped around her. Though hesitating at first she gently picked the little girl up and cradled her to her chest with great care. She rocked her and kissed her forehead gently in awe of the tiny being within her arms. "She's yours." Seras tells her as though the young mother really needed tot be told. The words were pointless, she already knew from merely looking at her face, and thus she smiled at the sight. Such a beautiful little girl…What color would her eyes be?  
>"Shhh…I'm here." The words came so easily.<p>

The melodious cling of the piano keys filled the room as Seras expertly moved her slender fingers over each key required for the song she was playing. It wasn't a particularly long tune but she kept repeating it over and over every time she would finish it. With the baby appeased Integra sat down on the couch partially facing the grand piano.

The knight smiled as the infant slept under the watchful eyes of her mother who watched on in pride, glazy as though ready to cry there and then.

"She likes your music." Integra whispered as not to wake the child. "Why take her from me? "She then asks as she raised her gaze to look over to said vampire and tenderly continued to rock the baby.

"Perhaps." Seras replied before allowing her full attention to rest once again on the keys she played without bothering to answer her second question. She stays silent with nothing but the sound of the piano to fill the room. It thus took a while, but after a few more notes Integra finally recognized the tune played. "You played this for him." She smiles, eyes closing for a second. Perhaps a different subject would be more suited. No harm had come to her daughter, she would let the subject drop for the time being. "I remember you whishing your master would hear it. Did he like it?"

"I would not know." The draculina answered in all honesty and the answer caught the young woman by surprise. Her fingers stopped moving on the keyboard and the room fell into deadly silence. "He may have. I do not know," She pauses thinking her answer over. "Nor do I remember why I can play. I just started after…."

Seras remained quite afterwards without finishing her sentence. Seeing this Integra carefully averted her attention back to the sleeping child for a few seconds to check if she were truly asleep. After that she carefully placed her on one of the soft cushions as not to wake and went over to the piano's left side and stool where Seras sat and took a set to her left.

"Seras?"

Looking at her Integra could distinctly see the sad and far away expression written all over the draculina's face. The room fell into silence a second time until, at long last, Seras started to play once more and the same song filled the otherwise silent hotel room. And yet the tune became especially sad and depressing. The former vampire master stared at her without speaking. Her blue eyes searched and analyzed all they could from merely looking at the woman turned vampire more than half a century ago. Her eyes were the same bright red, fresh blood just spilled upon a virgin canvas, but the emotion within them was no longer the same. The ever present joy that was Seras Victoria no longer resided within. She was missing.

"Seras?" she then asks again breaking the melodic flow in a tone full of curiosity, but also a strong hind of hesitation while placing her right hand over the vampire's left shoulder. "You are here. You came to me. Wherever this may be." She whispers that last sentence as silently as possible not really expecting adequate reply in return. Where _here_ was remained a mystery.

"Yes…" Seras whispers. "You are Hellsing and…I have to keep Hellsing safe. You are important."

Integra's eyes widened when she heard the phrase. Seras reaches out with her left hand, the silken ribbon dangling form her wrist, and tenderly caresses Integra's right cheek with the back of fingers. "I must keep you safe. **All** of you…"

The connotation did not go unnoticed by the knight's sharp mind and her azure eyes narrowed at the statement once the surprise of her gesture faded.

"Where is your master draculina?" the knight then questions.

However, instead of answering Seras lowers her hand and turns her head away breaking eye contact. Her gaze falls back on the black and white ivory keyboards. She hardly reacted at the somewhat hesitant tone hidden in that statement.

"It doesn't matter." She can do no more than softly whisper the words before offering the keyboard her undivided attention. Slowly her fingers started gliding over the white keys without making a sound.

Despite Integra focusing on the young vampire she failed to see any change in the two ruby orbs that seemed too only focus on the motion of her fingers and barely anything else at all. The plains of her face had never been so detached before especially when regarding the subject of the ancient vampire. Then, when an emotion finally did flash in them, Integra could not help but wonder at the sight that greeted her. The pure, raw emotion displayed almost looked as if it would burst to life straight from the pools of molten crimson.

"Master is," she slowly turned to face the blue eyed knight. "With me." Sadness…

Yes, that was one way of describing the draculina's face and yet it ran so much deeper. The words were said in a different tone more mature, more prideful and melancholic than her usual bubby and slightly embarrassed one that would have come with such a statement in the past. At least that's how it looked to someone as close to the vampire as the young mother was.

Seras offered no other reply in return and neither did she blink. Instead she stood up from the black bench and turned to move behind it heading for the 'bed' in which the little baby slept. Reaching her she extended her right hand out and gently touched the baby's blanket over her left side with the back of her fingers. Integra's body immediately tensed instinctually as fear drowned her blue gaze and her fists reflexively clenched. / I'm not going to hurt her. / Seras's voice soothed her troubled mind without hesitation startling her to the point where she gasped out loud and stood up immediately after knocking the bench over in the process. The large black piece of wood hit the floor with an earsplitting thumb loud enough to wake any grown up let alone a few days old infant. Fortunately, the sleeping girl didn't move a muscle. Her breathing remained steady and calm.

Seras quietly lowered herself in front of the living chair and sat on the floor with her legs together, but bent at the knees so that they reached her chest; the fingers of her right hand though continued to touch the soft lilac blanket.

"What's her name?"

The question came without warning and completely unexpected and diverted from the subject at hand. Not only that, but the tone she used was soft and carefree, loving if that was the right word to describe the current situation. For a moment Integra thought about shouting and demanding she remove herself from her child; she considered taking the baby no matter what just to keep it away from the _monster_ sitting at her feet.

"Margo."

It wasn't what she intended to say. Not even close. What she wanted was…

"There were many memories." Seras continued while pulling her hand back for good and letting both rest over the balls of her knees in a crossed position. "Too many and not all pleasant. There was much pain. More so when master…" a very distant look graced her ruby red orbs and for a spilt second she seemed to be incredibly far away in her thoughts. So far even the fingers that were moving to entertain the infant had stopped midway.

"When what Seras? Integra softly asks while moving closer to her position.

"He…" the draculina barely whispers completely lost with a glazed over expression as she lowered eyelashes and had a deep look of longing written all over her face.

_Flashback_

_Twin crimson orbs opened to a ceiling made of black stone and darkness all around, the scent of the old underground crypt filling her nose, the young vampire groggily stood up pushing herself up on her elbows while slowly rising from the black coffin in the underground mausoleum. Her hands were shaking as she grasped the edges of the coffin very dizzy, her head spinning and eyesight glazed over. It hurt to move, but at least the sensation was no longer the one from before. It wasn't physical pain any longer. She hurt but it was soreness mostly due to fatigue and weakened muscles instead of the blinding pain ripping her apart. Black bandages still encircled her chest as crimson stained her skin around them as well as her mouth and throat. Her legs had trouble supporting her weight as she steps out of the coffin and the stone sarcophagus holding onto it with one hand and her formerly discarded crimson shirt in the other. She's forced to lean her weight against the latter's edge for a while longer while slowly dressing herself sliding the shirt over her shoulders._

_She had woken alone unsure of the time passed during her sleep, yet her senses told her deep down that it was still night outside. Though which night still remained in question; it could have been minutes, hours, even days since the stake had been driven through her heart. _

_It was quiet all around her…so quite…_

_And where was her master? She was so weak she had trouble letting her senses spread out and fond her place in the darkness around her._

_Then a sound, so light it rivaled a falling feather, reached her ears catching her attention. It was faint and distant, a whisper lost and hidden in the deep and dark void before her._

_Eyes closing she searched for the presence around her and the scent of blood lingering near the archway leading into the large room. The scent was unnatural, sickly and…Her eyes snapped open. /Master!/_

_Recognition immediately passed through her urging her body to push passed the exhaustion and move. Slow steps turned stronger and faster until she running down the intricate halls of the underground tunnels until she was more than halfway down the longest of the three and the scent began assaulting her tenfold. Her legs protest to the strain and her body's about to give, fall down and just lie there, but she pushes on forcing herself to move…to run. And then finally, near the end of the hall leaning against a metal grate forming the door which led into the next undiscovered part of the tunnel, was a small and black silhouette; blood dripping from his limp left hand and staining the right entirely as the latter gripped one of the bars for dear life. _

_Looking for the prince she found him by a locked gate leaning against the metal bars of a rusty door with his right side._

_The scent of blood hung heavy in the air. It had lured her there, but the scent itself…there was something…she could not place. Something she did not dare place._

_"Master?" she whispers encircling him with a questioning look within her crimson eyes at suffering laid out before, at the face of the poor boy. Pausing for but a second she then kneels by his side grinding her teeth against each other in the process as her muscles protest a second time. She perform only half way as her legs give out and she falls rather harshly on top of her knees forced to use both hands to brace herself from collapsing entirely. Her breath is erratic and shallow, wheezing as each deep gulp fills dead tissue several times over until it stops altogether. Her chest rose up and down still enchased in the black bandages and in her haste she hadn't even had time to button op the shirt which hung of her left shoulder. _

_A second sound reached her ears once her own died out and as she slowly lifts her head, bangs parting to reveal her face, her eyes meet his. The boy before her stood with trembling shoulders in front of her. His whole face was a bloody mess, some still liquid and trickling down his face and some dried up and caked over his injured left temple, over his busted upper and lower lip and somewhat swollen nose. He had trouble keeping his left eye open, but the right looked directly at her and what she saw within was so different from the boy leaning over her while inside the coffin before she'd fallen asleep. He was cradling his left arm, crimson dripping from his fingers to stain the floor as he sat there leaning against the closed metal door. The scent of blood was so heavy around him: in his clothing, his skin, everywhere._

_"You left." She tells him to which the boy can only sketch a painful half smile and close his eyes with a grimace. She reaches out cupping the ball of his left of his shoulder only to hear him groan in pain from the contact and lightly hiss while weakly pulling from her touch. The movement is slow and even more painful than her actual touch as the muscles in his back protest against it and his many cuts scream in agony as the skin is pulled._

_"Don't…" Vlad still smiles despite the pain." It does' hurt." He laughs, but the pain is unbearable. She was no longer his vessel and he was no longer himself. And the pain inflicted on him that night, that merciless whip, came back with a vengeance._

_He was…_

_Seras reaches out a second time attempting to brush some of the bangs from his face, but stops once hearing him speak a second time. His injuries worry her from the moment the scent of his blood started becoming familiar. It was different, but it was familiar as well. And the one time she remembered smelling it was in the past he'd shown her; in the past and in the dungeon beneath the old castle…in the past when she too had hear and seen his suffering first hand._

_"It really….it's so bad I can't feel the pain any longer." he breaths while leaning forward towards her with a muffled hiss and biting his already injured lower lip. And though it hurts he leans with his injures left side and shoulder against her burring his head in the hollow of her throat and its now that her ears also manage to pick out the rather unique accent accompanying his words which had escaped her at first. His manner of speaking had changed drastically and hearing him speak in that fashion brought forth a deeply buried fragment of her shattered memory. The accent was….from a far different night decades ago._

_"I think," she slowly remembered it. "I went too far." The armor and the sword flashed in her mind's eyes as an entire world of death and decay burned around him in a battle against the cross and the priest…._

_He was…at that moment there figure from his own past. He was…._

_"I may be __**human**__ Seras…."_

_Doomed…_

Flashback end

"Maybe human…" the words were whispered as though uttering them any louder was a capital sin.

Integra looked in horror as the words left the draculina's lips and reached her scared ears. Had she heard right? Just now, had she truly heard the word _human_?

"What?" she can't help ask, yet Seras remains quite on the subject without repeating herself a second time.

"Alucard doesn't become _human_ Seras it's not done. You're either one or the other never both. There is no maybe."

"He feels human," Seras continues. "He tastes human, he looks human and he smells human. His blood is…"

"Where is he?" Integra questions out loud frustrated and demanding an answer while raising her voice no longer concerned about hearing the rest of Seras's description of the term _he's human_. "Where is your master draculina?"

"Sleeping." She partially replies turning head to peer over left should at the second door across the room they occupied. And in response Integra bolts from her spot on the bench moving passed the vampire without a single word and a hardened and icy cold gaze bent of finding out the truth for herself. However, before she even has a change to cross half the distance and reach door Seras reappears in front of her blocking the way.

"Seras…" Integra warns with a determined voice pressing on.

"You can't go in." Seras's voice is still clam and her voice collective as she stares the young knight down until the latter stop directly in front of her; the door now behind the white haired draculina.

"Move Seras." The knight demands.

"I can't."

"You can and you will." Raise tone. "Now move Seras. I've had enough of you two leaving me in the dark as usual when important things are concerned. I don't know where we are, why I'm not dead or who the fuck got me out of the fire because it sure as hell wasn't you or that bustard Alucard. And right now I don't really give a damn, but what I do care about is seeing my god damned servant for explications. My understanding has a limit and so does my patience so move out of the damned Seras that's an order."

"You aren't my master." Seras replies just as softly and confident without engaging in the verbal assault. She would not be taking orders from her, at least not regarding this particular sensitive subject.

"You think I'd _hurt_ him?" Integra eventually asks seeing through the actual problem laid out before her. Despite all the heavy tension between them it was so easy to see that, deep down, she was only protecting her master. And that in itself could only mean something very bad had happened to the elder vampire so something had gone terribly wrong with the vampire's plans. A fact made abundantly clear by Seras finally raising her gaze and meet her blue eyes.

"Master killed himself…_I think_…" she whispers at the end.

The answer took Integra by surprise, more so by the rather emotionless tone in which the young vampire had uttered it as though it had no real significance. "He wished to show me but I didn't want to see. So he told me that h…"

"Alucard can't die." She's interrupted by Integra's confident tone. "He may disappear, but not die never die. He doesn't know how.

"Walter used the stake and burned the coffin. Master let himself die. Master said he didn't need to be there any more. He's blood said you'd understand."

_I burned his coffin. _

The words suddenly filled her mind making her blue eyes easily reflect the though giving herself away.

_And removed the __sickness__ in his heart. And held it within my grasp. And felt…_

"Did he feel the chill of his blood and the stillness of my master's heart as it bled in his hand staining the dungeon floor?" Seras then asks with an unusually cold and spiteful tone; almost mocking.

"Seras…"

"Did he ram the stake though the sickness in my master's heart?"

The question stop all form of protest on behalf on the plat haired woman. Both her hands clenched into fists and she bit her bottom lip understanding where the conversation was heading towards.

"This is absurd." And even so, though she keeps her tone much lower and calm, she stands her ground very uneasy and disbelieving of the words just heard. "Alucard cannot…"

"Alucard doesn't exist right now." Seras finally confesses while raising her own voice as the former serene expression upon her face and eyes disappears entirely.

"Bullshit." Integra curses as her frustration get the best of her. "Show me then." She demands having heard enough. "You have his blood and his thoughts now show me!"

Seras closes her eyes to ponder over the situation for a brief moment before replying. "I cannot."

"Then step aside damn it!" Integra shouts taking one more step which brings her face to face with the crimson eyed vampire. "Move Seras."

"Go in and I will kill you." She threatens meaning every word of it. All kindness or hesitation disappears from within her crimson eyes as her stare turns ice cold and deadly. The bark was no long worse than the bite, but the other way around.

"You would think m…"

"I don't think." Seras cuts her off with a harsh and confident tone. 'Thinking' was beyond the subject at this point; 'knowing' was everything. It wasn't about thinking she might cause him harm, but knowing she would, knowing she could. Whether willing or not. "You will." Her conviction was unwavering. However, once the words were spoken, she let go of some of her sudden anger towards the one person her instincts were telling was on her side despite it all; a person she knew she'd know for many years in the past. That though alone was motive enough to offer a _small_ measure of trust; the only motive. _"Just like everyone else." _She could only whisper hiding her eyes behind her bangs as she lowered her gaze once more.

"What?" Integra asks not having heard her correctly. The silent, mouse like whisper of her voice, barely reached her ears.

S abruptly raised her head letting her crimson orbs pierce the knight's soul.

"You are Hellsing and you are important. And I have to keep Hellsing safe." The draculina repeats her earlier statement in a very detached tone so unlike the first time. "Yet you are a _stranger_." That word alone took Integra by surprise anew causing her blue eyes to widen at the implication it brought forth.

"And I don't know you."

"You do." The young mother tries and even begins to reach out with her left hand, but is once again forced to stop by the look within Seras's eyes and the shadows beginning to flare behind her.

"No." she tells her standing her ground, determination in her crimson irises. "You are lost along with everything else."

Flashback

_**I may be human...**_

_The words continued to haunt Seras's mind long after the boy had spoken them, even as she helped him back inside the main hall of the mausoleum and towards the still open black coffin. The gentle touch of cold pale skin was nothing short of divine as it cooled the growing temperature within his body and the fever starting to take over from the many open wounds and weak body. His one good arm was securely, yet frailly wrapped around her shoulders and throat from behind as she carried him on her back as to be mindful of the sin done to his back. There was no other way to walk the distance without causing excruciating by touching his back. His other arm hung loosely by his side as she carried him, his body was curled around her with his chest close to her back, his legs wrapped on either side of her hips and held up by the thighs by her hands, and his head hung weakly over her left shoulder slightly tilted upward as his breath held a slight wheezing sound. _

_**I may be human…**_

_"Master can't be human." She whispers out of the blue cutting through the long silence as she starts passing the stone sarcophagi lined up in the chamber. Her only reply was a weak chuckle and a faded smile she barely heard. So innocent…his little one…"If I were to bite you know…"_

_"You'd kill me." He tells her very weakly taking in a deep breath in spite of his bruised ribs protesting against the added volume of air. She can fell the pounding of his heart against her chest as well as the fever induced tremors slowly beginning to take over more and his body. Rebel strands of shoulder long black hair and bangs stuck to his face from the blood caused by his wound as well as the thin layer of sweat. Even now he attempts to smile, but it's short lived. _

_"I don't understand." She tells him silently asking to be told. "Why are you like this?"_

_"Because," he pauses leaning a bit more into the comfort of her cold skin while gently tightening his hold around her shoulders. "It's how I was forced awake when you came falling into my dark memory. The one I didn't want you to see, remember? I just kept hiding it afterwards. And you kept the pain at bay."_

_"I don't." She contradicts him stepping closer and closer towards the coffin. "__**Not anymore…**__" she them pauses whispering the words in understanding._

_"No…" he agrees with a smile._

_"Why?"_

_"It feels good." He says, right hand clutching at her crimson shirt. "It gives me what I want. Freedom to cry, to care, to feel anything __**I**__ want." Each and every word bore a deep and heartfelt emotion without as much as a hint of a lie. "Not to bare those burn marks upon my flesh any longer. And…__**be me**__." Even if it killed him. And though that part was never said out loud the young draculina still understood it and tightened her own hold on his thighs with a soft smile._

_"This is nice." Vlad whispers and the warmth of his breath caresses the side of her throat._

_"You're sick." She interjects tilting her head a little to the side to catch a glimpse of his ocean blue eyes from the corner of her own. How could being sick be good? And nice? "You can't even move." Her sentence is somewhat muffled by the low tone in which it is spoken as well as the sound of his heavy breathing. _

_"I don't really wish to." He playfully tells her leaning into her cold touch more. His lips brush against the column of her throat as he speaks a second time in a ghostly fashion barely there at all. And what worries her is the coldness of said touch despite the rest of his body being quite hot. Also his reaction time to almost any thing she did or said was growing by the second. Event his rather rapid breathing became, as time passed by, shallow and weak. His lips though remained slightly parted with a far softer sighing sound replacing the former wheezing. His eyes were heavily lidded and tired and his body fairly numb while pressed up against her. It was actually more than good not to 'truly' feel his back anymore._

_"You're still bleeding."_

_In fact he'd never stopped and the air brushing against the moist skin of his forehead and back from the rather wet clothing clinging to his skin and the remnants of black piece of cloth once encircling his torso felt heavenly. With no windows or doors open to dilute the scent from the within the chamber, it filled the inside of the entire structure without delay. And to a vampire's sensitive nose, there was no where to hide from it. Nothing was healing, not even the tiny and trivial marks she'd made on the side of his throat in a moment of sheer weakness after he'd fallen against her whispering 'I may be human'. She had to see, if only for a second, and her fangs had pierced his flesh, but nowhere near enough to actually cause harm or rip through the tissue itself. They were surface wounds no deeper than the prick of a needle and had bled superficially as well. Unfortunately, they too had not closed properly despite their harmless size. And the revelations of said action shook her to the core, he tasted human. _

_Taking great care not to disturb him more than necessary she gently knelt in front of the stone structure encasing the black coffin taking care to set his knees on the floor first before slowly relaxing her grip and uncoiling her hands from around his thighs. She brings up her right arm to brush aside the few strands of hair from the middle of his forehead and his right temple to get his attention and the tips of her fingers trace gently across the surface enlisting a small reaction in the form of light sight that becomes a weak and deep inhale. His eyelids flutter open with some difficulty before opening no more than 1/4 of the way to reveal glazed blue eyes framed by dark eyelashes. _

_"Tell me what to do." She breathlessly whispers turning her head fully towards him while tracing his left cheek with the back of her free hand. The fever had gone up so much in the small span of time it took her to cross the halls and return to the sanctity of the large mausoleum chamber; the skin burning hotter and his hair damper over his forehead as each stoke made the elegant digits disappear into the silken mass. Vlad breaths in deep taking his fill of her fading scent whilst shutting his eyes savoring the moment. He feels her hand upon his cheek one moment longer before she shifts beneath him rising again without awaiting his answer. He feels something wrap around his waist causing pain as it tightens and perhaps pulls him from her though he can't tell for certain; the only certainty he has is the feel of his arm slipping from around her shoulders and then, somehow, finding its way around his throat in order to support the back of his head as he's gently lowered onto the sheets and a pillow, shoulder long hair pooling like a halo all around him. His sharp intake on air and the immediate opening of his eyes is the sole indicator of the agony of being placed upon the soft sheets and bedding. He swallows the cry and does so several times over whilst struggling to breath through his nose alone. All the while the slim shadow retracts from around him letting his entire weight settle and his wounds scream beyond measure until the very same shadow thins out like a thin layer of silk between his back and the sheet itself; the sensation almost ice cold against the pain, the fever, damp clothing and many cuts. All the while Seras gently lays down next to his right side and hovers over his chest placing both her arms on either side of his shoulders so that her palms were free to cup his face in a soothing manner. Several long white strands fell forward over her shoulder to land on his and mix with the charcoal. Her eyes soften as she slightly crooks her head to the right and her gaze wanders over his pale face studying it. _

_The prince smiles at the touch and opens his eyes, Adam's apple bobbing again as he swallows anew before finding his voice and weakly whispers as he focuses on nothing but her full pink lips and pale face. "Have you ever cried…beyond that night at the orphanage?" the question wasn't the reply she'd been waiting for and yet the curious tone in which he asked it deemed an appropriate answer. Thus she slowly shakes her head turning her right hand over within his hair and brushing the back of her fingers over his cheekbone. "Neither have I…in the tower…" he adds as Seras lowers her upper body next to him so that her head came to rest on the mattress next to his right cheek, nose buried in the side of his throat, without placing any more of her own weight upon him. _

_"Is screaming in the dark wrong?" her breath is warm, yet soothing, trickling the shell of his ear._

_"Yes…it's weak…" the prince didn't hesitate to dignify her question with an answer although the first and only time that very same question had ever been asked the answer had been utterly different._

_**"Why is screaming in the dark so bad?"**_

_**"**__**It's not little one. You can scream all you like until your throat gets sore form the effort if you have to. There's nothing wrong about it nor is it your fault if those around you don't understand. What you saw can't be dismissed or forgotten so easily. Trust me, I know."**_

_Then again, she'd been so tiny then. And things had been different._

_"I cannot," she pauses tightening her hold around him in both arms as well as powers. The tips of her stardust colored hair were blackened and from them pitch black tendrils that held him safe were born, tendrils that continued to moved under and around his body as they spoke keeping him cool. He was 'asking' to 'cry' in the night without actually uttering the words himself. "It's wrong." She thus tells him refusing the offer._

_"Still so innocent little one." He chuckles in return bringing his right over his chest and finding several white strands to grasp. "I have not, nor do I consider myself to be 'wrong'. I am as I was meant to survive."_

_He then felt her lips part around his pulse point, taste his flesh and the tips of her fangs graze it without biting down hard enough to draw a significant amount of blood. _

_"Do it…before my blood…is utterly useless to you…" He tells her between deep breaths tilting his head a little to give her more space. "I no longer scream in the night." His tone is firm and his voice holds no weakness or fear caused by flaws of the soul, only those of his body. /Must I?/_

_"Please…" He ads softly and no sooner do the words echo them that her fangs sink in deep and hard, shredding the vessels in their path. A fresh flow of warm blood rushes passed her lips coating her tongue in searing hot liquid like the branch of a mighty river sweeping all in its path._

_The prince's throat arches tilting backwards in a silent cry. His teeth grind together as the sensation is not longer the same as it had been whilst being undead himself. In the end though he was unable to hold all of the scream back and a fraction of it passed his lips along with a deep breath that helped sooth the pain. The ripping, cutting and tearing of his flesh took only seconds before she started drinking, but then he felt tendrils wrap around his injured left arm. "Waitahhh!" he screams in utter agony as the tendrils do not spare him and instead dissect his flesh getting to the bone underneath. It was pure agony as the tendril never stopped, her mouth retracted not so gently and her fangs bruised his skin coming out. _

_Senses faded with the pounding sound of his own heart dying out in favor of wetness trickling down his cheeks as he shed tears without even knowing from the sudden and excruciating pain inflicted. He never picked up on his eyelids dropping and his eyes closing, vision going dark, until the sudden taste of blood filled his mouth pushing away the dizziness and the threat of loosing consciousness. Seras's right wrist was cut and bleeding held between his lips as she waited for the healing effect of her blood to work. _

_"I'm sorry." Unfortunately, she only had a small amount to give, but it proved enough to fuse the broken bone together even if it didn't fully heal the rest of the deep bruising marring his arm or the remaining damage done to is body. The fever too remained though not as high and his skin cooled down significantly. "But you would have asked eventually." She then adds pulling her hand away from his now bloodied lips watching as he swallows the remains of the crimson liquid offered. Her wrist healed in seconds long before his eyes fluttered open anew to see her face hovering above him with a gentle, yet remorseful smile. _

_"Take me...to her…" he weakly tells her._

_"Yes master." Seras replies brushing his bangs from his forehead to reveal a far less bruised face, a fully opened eye to join its twin and an almost fully healed temple. Perhaps she should give him even more._

Flashback end

He had been barely conscious afterwards, barely, and far worse on the long journey back. She would **not** disturb his sleep. Not now when could finally sleep in peace.

"None of this explains the look you're giving me Seras." Integra tells her. "You would think me so low? He may be a vampire and I may be human, but that means nothing now." She steps forward until she's moved around the vampire and comes face to face with the door behind the latter. "I have questions Seras. His blood kept my child alive and for that alone he will live regardless of anything else that might come between us. Even if I am a human I am not those that came before me and if you think me important it must be for other reasons than my hold over your master."

Seras remains quite and silent hearing the knight out until she's finished. "You've taken his blood, have you not draculina?" Integra asks her turning her head to the left as Seras turns her own to the right at the same time and their eyes meet. "Or rather, he's selfishly given it to you willing or not. Either way you know what I say to be true." Her tone lowers to a soft and understanding whisper. She didn't need Seras to answer, not really. The look in her crimson irises was enough and spoke volumes.

"Forever a selfish creature be it alive, dead or on the brink of death. He's given you more than your body could handle and it ruined you. Can you," her left arm came up between them to touch the draculina's left cheek with the back of her hand. "Can our time together in those long 30 years be gone? Am I so easily forgotten young vampire?"

"You will stay away." Seras warns yet opens the door behind her nonetheless. She would allow passage, but that was it and nothing more.

The room in itself was a simple bedroom with a single nestled in the right corner with the headboard pressed up against the same wall and thus its left side facing the doorway while the right face the back wall of the room. A dresser, nightstand and desk accompanied it as well as a small rectangular shaped lamp on the nightstand which provided a bit of light as it was kept at a very low setting. It was all Integra got to see before Seras quickly moved passed rushing to the side of the young boy she now got a glimpse of.

His body looked warm even from a distance, burning hot from the fever mostly assuredly gripping him as he lay there helplessly on the edge of the bed with the sheet curled around his legs. He'd fallen attempting to get out of bed and was unable to get up again. Dark bangs covered most of his face shielding it from sight, yet his lips were parted as he as took long deep breaths. Both his arms held onto the bed and sheets and the right side of his body leaned up against it so that his head could comfortably lay between the cradle of his arms on top of the mattress. He was barefoot and wore the same dark colored pants, but had on a white shirt this time around; and the back of it was partially stained red in several spots.

"What is this?" Integra asks stepping closer. Unfortunately, the position Seras had assumed by kneeling next to the young boy prevented her once more for seeing what she was doing. She could not see his face, but she did manage to pick up on the sudden tension racking his body the moment Seras stepped into his personal space.

The prince heard the door open and his ears picked up muffled sounds seemingly close to him, but he couldn't make out anything else. His head hurt badly, he was tired and exhausted and a shadow seemed to loom over him from behind moving so that part of it entered his field of vision and he could see it from the corner of his left eye. Regrettably, his eyes were so glazed over and hazed that he barely made sense of the figure. All he saw was a hand moving towards him and adrenalin shot through his system without fail prompting him to move despite the pain and the weakness in his limbs as though something horrible was about to befall him. He moved long before both his mind and body caught up with his actions; he jerked back from the touch and distanced himself from the bed and in the process hit the wall to his right with a loud thud taking more than half the blanket with him as his balled hands and entangled feet dragged it with him.

The pain of moving is severe and hitting the wall with his back only added fuel to an already blazing and out of control fire. And being far too weak to cry out he could only manages to grunt biting his lower lip in an attempt to make it stop by slowly uncoiling his body. Still, the damage had already been done and all the whip marks viciously reopened in various degrees. The bruising on his face became more evident with the faded light of lamp flooding the room along with the glossy, fearful, pain stricken and sickly expression that marred his pale features. Worst, haunting images of a dark past haunted him sticking a sensitive cord deep inside him from the very moment her hand reached for him form behind. And at that point the child's reaction turned from cautioned to a deeply rutted sense of survival and a highly exaggerated defense reflex.

"What the hell is going on here?" Integra shouts ready to run over to the poor child and check his welfare just as the vampire had done, but her way is blocked by Seras stepping between them, her back to her master's body.

"You have to go now." She tells her rather urgently, irises beginning to glow and fangs lengthening in a display of power as well as a threatening manner.  
>"Answer me!" Integra insists only have her own tone of voice used against her.<p>

"Leave!"

Shadows beneath the draculina's feet shifted and spread from under the soles of her boots then rose off ground behind her. "Or I will make you."

"Do not threaten me vampire!" the knight warns standing her ground with firm resolution.  
>"I'll do more than threaten." The draculina's voice is dark in turn and taking on an ominous and dangerously threatening tone hinting at the promise of death if not far worse to come should she stay any longer; her tone bordering on the edge between a friendly warning and the promise of an unpleasant demise.<p>

"Please." The sound of Elena's voice, tone firm yet gentle, offers a temporary end to the tension ripping through the room and threatening to tear it in two. "There is no need for such behavior." She says crossing the threshold of the door and stopping immediately afterwards without going any further. Her left hand comes to rest on the body of the door pushing it open just a tad more. "I will speak with you if you so wish it lady Hellsing. And I will tell you what you wish or need to know."

"Who are you?" Integra asks looking over her left shoulder at first before tuning around completely to face the newly appeared auburn haired woman. Seras on the other hand simply remained quite without moving an inch from her position. All she does is turn her head to face the boy and bare her back to both the knight and the vampire.

"Take her and go." Her words come out mean and spiteful although there is no genuine malice hidden underneath. All she wants' is for them to leave them be.

"I will go when I damn well please!" Integra calls in indignation at the tone used against her, but Elena's quick and kind tone puts out the fire raging between them once again with the same efficiency of sand being thrown over its surface by a steady hand. Elena takes a step back away from the door turning her body around and extending her right hand out of the room in a friendly and inviting gesture. "This way please."  
>With one final glance, though cold and icy and narrowed in anger, Integra agrees to follow in silence, the door closing behind her with a soft click. Silence descends until the draculina speaks up running towards her master's side.<p>

"Master…" she softly whispers while kneeling in front of him and slowly extending her right arm towards his raised knees.

"No…" he almost shouts pulling his knees close to his chest and away from her touch despite the pain it brought him. His breathing is completely uneven, heavy and his body trembling beyond his control. He was feverish, his body on fire and weak with exhaustion and racked with anger and frustration due to his own inability to control his own nightmares, his past. He'd done it again, loosing track of reality and letting himself temporarily slip in the past world of the boy he now was. The first came shortly after removing himself from the coffin before Seras woke and found him leaning against the metal grill of the metal door in the mausoleum and it seemed that each repeated event was worse than the first and getting harder and harder to control. He could not close his eyes without seeing, without remembering something horrid.

Even now, he could hear his draculina's voice and sense her comforting presence, yet the fall into sickening weakness continued to have the upper hand.

The nauseating and satisfied grin of that man's face flashed inside his fever stricken mind, laughter joining in the form a deep chuckle. The grin and only the grin as the rest was bathe in darkness was far worse than his actual touch.

Vlad grid his teeth and clenched his jaws harder biting his bottom lip so hard in the process that he drew blood which trickled down his chin in the form of a very thin rivulet.

"Vlad…." Seras softly speaks and the sound shatters the image in an instant startling the boy. There was nothing in the room once the haze over his eyes partially withdrew and the muscle in his jaw loosened enough to release his lip, though he still did not move from the spot. His right knee lowers a little, his eyes close and a sigh passes his lips as the movement itself disturbed the muscles in his back once more. He felt tired and drained and without the few ml of adrenalin to keep him going simple breathing and holding himself upright became a challenge and tiresome experience. He was fighting to keep his eyes open and forget the image of that _grin_ still so fresh in the back of his mind.

"Let me help you."

_**Yes we'll make sure you adjust just right, help you along way. Do not worry dear little prince.**_

The sound of that sickening voice to match the grin made all the more real by high fever and dizzy from blood loss and forced his almost shut eyes to reopen as soon as Seras spoke. He did not hear her. Instead all he heard was…

"Let me see." Seras reaches for his raise left knee just, but the tips of her fingers barely touch it when he pulls away just as violently hitting the all with his back a second time.

_**Let us see…**_

A hand reached out towards him in the deepest recess of his mind.

**How well a Dracul fares….**

The sound coming closer…death lurking beyond it…

_**In hell….**_

The horrid hand becoming visible within the darkness…

"No!" The prince shouts screaming from the pit of his lungs and jerking from the touch as well as the voice uttering the word 'hell' with the greatest of amusement. Seras immediately crawled closer and cupped his face attempting to calm him and stop his violent trashing as though he were trying to get away from her. His hands went for her wrists without fail, but he lacked the strength to do much of anything.

"Stop…" Seras pulls her wrists free with ease and quickly wraps them around the back of his head pulling him to her chest. With his right leg down it's easy to move him and imprison him within her embrace while burring the right side of his face against her chest and pulling his back away form the hard surface of the wall. "Don't cry…" she whispers as silently as possible as though saying it out loud was betraying the greatest of secrets. Tears fell from the corners of his eyes as his body trembled and shuttered against her wracked with fever and pain. It was all too much take and he failed to hear her subsequent sentence as his eyelids dropped and all feeling in his body vanished. He lost him mind to the horrors of the past and fell deep within their spell.

Flashback

_Flames flickered posted along the walls of a long hallway where a large nr of people all dressed in matching floor long tunics with black belts around their middle and hats matching their tunics in color. They stood close to each other they almost formed a second inner wall on either side of the hall, no space between them. And seeing that each one carried a spear taller than himself there was absolutely no possible way for someone to either get passed them or escape. The flames of several torches flickered along the walls accompanied by the heavy sound of foot steps until the thump that disturbed the perfect harmony also shattered the perfect symmetry of the twin rows of men. _

_"Get up." An aged and hardened voice, rough and spiteful with no trace of kindness, spoke whilst grabbing a fistful of a young child's shoulder long black hair and dragging him along behind him like rag doll. The boy had walked far to slowly for the man's liking and had thus been shoved to the floor by a strong kick to his left side partially knocking him into the closest soldier's spear and legs. His right shoulder hit hard absorbing most of the blow. The man's dark violet and lavender tunic decorated with golden patterns clashed against the black and white pattern of the floor as well as the very plain black clothing the boy wore. The child's blue eyes were dull and lifeless and hardly reacted at all to the rough treatment and the pain in his shoulder, side or scalpel. He was dragged all the way into the room at the very end of the long hallway and then unceremoniously thrown on a large bed. A simple yet beautifully crafted silver cross fell from his pocket as he bounced on the bed once before quickly turning around and grabbing it with his left hand, holding on for dear life. At the same time the man's already horrid grin grew darker as he grabbed the boy's hair in a tight grip yet again holding him down as he viciously ripped the shirt completely of his back. Afterwards he pulls the boy's head backwards bending his back at an uncomfortable angle as he kept on grinning and then started whispering of the things he was about to do to him. _

_The prince's heart all but stopped and his blue eyes reflected nothing but the purest and deepest distain as he tightened his grip on the small silver cross, so much in fact that his knuckles turned white. In less then a min his head was shoved back down on the mattress and the man's other hand trailed down his lower back towards the hem of his pants and the crimson sash around it. Disgust washed over him even more than before and he clenched his jaw shut, eyes as well, and sucked in a deep breath praying that filthy hand would leave and stop touching him. The man's chuckles continues to fill his ears drowning out his own thoughts as if to torture him further._

_The sash was ripped bruising his lower abdomen as the knot did not give way the first time. And the hand was reaching and gripping the hem of his pants while the other all but ripped out some of his hair pulling as hard as he did._

_The boy's lungs were screaming for air, but his mind was far too numb to any other thoughts except that retched, filthy hand; a hand that started to move…_

_The sudden cold gust of freezing cold air hit him harder than the man's touch feeling as though it cut deeply into his skin like a sharp and unforgiving knife. And just like that the unwanted touch and sensation it brought were erased taking the vile laughter with them and bathing the room in absolute silence. _

_Fresh air immediately seeped into the boy's starving lungs filling them with more than simple oxygen…relief…freedom…_

_Yet he was still unable to walk over the threshold and open his eyes fearing the worst. Only his hold on the silver cross loosened just a little, a fraction of a mm in __**hope**__. _

_He did not see the retracting mass of darkness behind him were the source of his misery and nightmares had stood mere seconds ago whispering horror and despair into his ear. Secondly, the bed did not dip and the mattress remained motionless at an even level despite the new figure settling over its surface with her legs crossed Indian style directly in front of him. A mass of white hair pools around and over dark red sheets and the dark leather of her pants and crimson shirt. It all happened so fast that the boy immediate reaction was to flinch at the second touch upon the crown of his head. It was instinctual and it did not matter that the touch itself was tender and feather like. Both his hands and jaw clenched anew in preparation for the worst while the man's words drowned his thoughts yet again like a knife through an already open and bleeding wound twisting further and ripping it apart. Strangely though, the touch lingers causing no pain and the fingers do not rip his hair, but softly caress them tenderly in a slow stroking motion easing his already hurt scalp._

_White…brilliant, pearl white almost snow like shimmering in the flicker of the wall mounted torches and their orange glow is the very first thing his cautioned blue irises witnessed as he dared to open his eyes and look up for the very first time in what seemed to be eternity. Either one of his hands was mm from touching the splendid mass as well as the person's knees as the gentle hand never stopped caressing his almost shoulder long raven hair._

_A bit more courage earned him an intricate belt, a crimson shirt with its upper two buttons opened revealing a hint of a generous cleavage and the inner swell of her breast so perfectly hugged by the short black vest to match the color of her leather pants. More white, much, much more cascaded down her shoulders and back with several thin strands over the former as to frame her face._

_The boy's lips part in a small, silent 'o' and a very soft gasp when his eyes landed on twin orbs as red as freshly drawn blood and a face so flawless and pale it looked as though carved directly from the purest marble stone. The woman smiled, her lips curling beautifully as her long lashes dropped a little framing her unique eye color even further. It's only then, while still trapped in the heat of her gaze, that he finds the strength to move his limbs and slowly push himself up on his elbows against the mattress to get a better look at the room around him. A sudden sound, a spark from one of the burning blocks of wood in the distant fireplace of the room, breaks the spell putting him on high alert. His head turns without fail seeking the source of the noise and his heart runs for miles preparing to aid his already tense muscles in fleeing should the need arise._

_There's nothing in the room around them, nothing…just them. Without even realizing it he's moved himself closer to the young mysterious woman and despite the rapid turn of his head her fingers cont to linger lost in the mass of raven hair before the rest of her hand joins in and the cradle of her palm settles on the top of his head. The change in touch brings his eyes back on her, yet he's silenced long before there's even the slightest change of him saying anything. A single finger was raised placing her left hand in front of her face while bringing her index finger in front of her lips in a knowing gesture. Be still…_

_The prince swallows allowing his lips to close, his heart to rest and his body to relax…if only just slightly. The woman's hand traces the shape of his left temple fingering the slightly longer lock of hair that framed his face and pushing it behind his ear lingering there for a moment. When done she lets her limb drop entirely and the remainder of his bangs seeped through her fingers like thin rivulets of water through small crevices dug in the side of a rock. The gestured brought forth a second attempt at speaking, yet this too was rendered silent by the same soft gesture which was, this time around, used against his own lips instead of hers. Her upper body leaned in a bit, but it was her crimson irises that spoke the words she was refusing to say out loud: no talking. And all the while the smile never left her full rosy lips._

_The touch was surprising, more so the apparent coldness of her skin against his warmer one. _

_The woman then pulls her hand back slowly, yet she barely acquires space between them when the boy's right hand shoots up without fear taking hold of her wrist. The hand felt cold, colder than her fingers previously had had while pressed against his lips or hair moments before. And yet the though of letting go or questioning that very fact never crossed his mind. It was almost like a test, was she really there? _

_His gaze lowered leaving her face in favor of their joined hands. Their skin tone differed despite both being pale in color and it seemed as though hers was surreal somehow. The touch felt warm regardless of the cool sensation it generated and softer than any other fabric his hands had come across in his young life. Her slender fingers slowly curled around the back of his hand, a simple gesture that coupled with the tender smile slowly broke through the tension dominating the room. The woman's other hand came up in the far corner of his field of vision and he caught a glimpse of something black moving as one with her fingers before the familiar texture of his own tunic covered his bare torso and back once more. The missing parts of his clothing regenerated themselves, the sash included, and freaked him beyond measure. He jerked from her touch, but her grip was stronger and kept him grounded. At the same time her right hand cupped the left side of his face stopping his head from turning. The boy shut his eyes not knowing what to expect. Perhaps the whole encounter was nothing more than a shame? A cruel and twisted joke to further harm and humiliate him? Or worse? _

_But then, he heard her speak. _

_**"Secret…"**_

_And the mere sound of her soft, angelic tone whispering in his native tongue had his eyelids snap open without a moment's delay. The breath on his face was warm, how could it not when her mouth was just mm from actually touching his forehead. Once again the woman smiles for what seemed to the millionth time and yet each one differed from the once before: compassion, love, understanding and now a hint of what seemed to be playful mischief greeted him. Her eyes fared no better, yet not much thought was given to the matter when actual lips brushed the middle of his forehead just under his bangs._

_**"Secret…"**_

_The word is whispered a 2nd time around and her breath is cool against the moist patch of skin her lips had sampled. She looks down caressing his left cheek with her thumb while brining their heads closer so that their lips almost touch and her eyes flicker in amusement at the sight of the instant blush appearing on the young boy's face._

_**"Trezeşte-te…" (Wake up…)**_

_His ears hear her voice and his mind understand the words, but the rest of his body and senses go numb. The woman's irises flash red and the room went dark._

Flashback end

"Trezeşte-te." Seras whispers against his partially parted lips watching as his eyes regain some small measure of understanding, the haze fading a little bit more. She pulls from his mind with great care and gently caresses his face with her thumbs. Hi skin was so hot, so burning hot.

"Nothing I do will ever change thoughts passed," she pauses brushing the damp bangs for his face. "I understand. But I may change it whenever you remember it at one time and make it bearable." With those words she leans in kissing him softly and letting her forehead lean against his in a broken sigh. "Just let me…"

He doesn't fight her a second time. Though his body still trembles beneath her touch and is weak from one of many memories no one would never truly be able to erase.

_The bird of Hermes was my name…_

_Broken, torn and used by this ungodly world I am._

To be continued…..

The song I had Seras play on the piano is Breathing space from X-Ray Dog. Check it out.

Till next time.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 21**

Retreating form the now shut door Elena led Integra back into the large study towards the awaiting couch at the other end.

"I am sorry. I had originally planed on being here when you woke, but found myself detained a bit longer. And as you well saw, the situation is not good."

"Who are you?" Integra immediately leaves all pleasantries behind. She follows the woman, but only until they reach the couch. There she stops and goes no further.

"One whose life you owe Lady Hellsing." The auburn haired vampire replies turning to face the platinum haired knight. She then pauses for a moment to take in the sight of her ice cold blue eyes and the determined and unrealities stare before she takes a seat on the couch and gestures to the armchair nearby in silent invitation.  
>"<em>Sir Hellsing<em>. I am no mere Lady." Integra tells her with a determined voice without acknowledging the invitation just yet. She remains standing in from of the couch with her arms crossing under her chest before repeating her earlier question a second time. "_Who_ are you?"

"I am Elena Sir Hellsing. And this is my House."

"You haven't answered my question."

"I have given my name, have I not?"

"Exactly _who_ are you?" Integra insists, blue eyes narrowing further without a hint of intimidation from the unknown and potential dangerous vampire in front of her.

"My ties to your family are well know. He and I caused you grief and you have caused ours."  
>"I do not know you."<p>

"_You_ was not implied as individually, you is your family."  
>"Alucard is the only vampire bound to the Hellsing name."<p>

"The words are yours, not mine." She smiles secretly. "I would not go as far as to call me bound. For, as you can see, I am nothing of the sort."

"Then just tell and be done with it."  
>"My name is no secret. After all there are not many of us he made or were brought into your house." Her lips curl in a small smirk revealing a tiny hint of the tips of her fangs. "Think Sir Hellsing, how may of us were there? Which is the last you've heard of?"<p>

The question leaves Integra at a standstill. She doesn't reply straight away, she can't, and instead she ponders the question over trying to find any hidden meaning to it. Ever so slowly her expression begins to change as the answer hesitantly surfaces. Disbelief, denial, curiosity and finally…her gaze hardens once more. There could be only one creature before Seras. And Mina was not it.

"You know my name, don't you Sir Hellsing? Go on." The grin turns into a satisfied smile as she can see realization appear in the twin pools of water reflected behind the glasses Integra wore.

"She died."

"_I_ live." Elena contradicts her with the same subtle smile.

"_Lucy_…" The vampire's name is uttered in disbelieve as well as curiosity. It couldn't really be her.  
>"At your service Sir Hellsing. It has been a while since coming face to face with one of your kind."<p>

"This isn't possible."  
>"Stranger thing befall heaven and earth than a mere dead girl now standing in front of you."<p>

"How? How are you here? You died and we both know it."

"You are a Hellsing and therefore will understand my reluctance to answer that question truthfully in every regard. It is a matter for myself and my master that much I will say. And in a way I did die and a stake did strike my heart and a blade did cut off my head. Yet every creature upon this earth will see what they wish to see more than anything else when given the opportunity to do so. I merely let it happen."

"In other words it was neither your heart or your head. It wasn't you just _them_ believing it was."

"Not an easy feat to accomplish mind you. Not with a man such as Abraham hovering over ones neck. Still, my master has done stranger things long before meeting me."  
>"Why save me at all when baring such dislike for my bloodline?"<p>

"He values your life and elder vampires are to be obeyed. Especially ones own master." The answer was plain and simple and could not be more so.

"And because you are his childe you must obey?" It was the knight that smirked this time. "Is that no taking it too far? There are first of dozens of occasion I can quite distinctly remember Seras failing to _obey_ her master's wishes and second, you are no longer his property that much is obvious. And," she pauses if only for a second. "There is now another in your place is there not?"

"My place?" Elena laughs with great amusement. "There is no such thing."

"Says the girl who defied normal laws of conduct and played with the wills of men, and women, as though they were her toys. There is but one Lucy Westenra."

The vampire laughs once again with even greater amusement. "Not everything you hear is real, more so what you read. The ravings of a senile old fools especially. Though I have to admit I did _enjoy_ my toys in my days." The smile then turns serious as she flicks a stray, curled strand of hair behind her left ear. "Yet to put away your concerns, _she_ is not a threat to me. Why even consider it? Because we're both blond, blue eyed, beautiful women and he's had us both? Hardly. And I'm not truly blond as you can well see. It was just pain and a phase."

"Then why does it seem that he cares more for her than he did for you?"

"My life was spared through his actions as was hers. There is no difference."  
>"There is always a difference." Integra contradicts her with ease to which the vampire can only agree with a soft smile. "Perhaps, but we have terribly diverted of track and the subject at hand."<p>

"I would disagree."  
>"What is it you wish to know? Other than my name of curse." She smiled gesturing towards the armchair once more. "And please, do sit down. I've grown rather bored of watching you stand all the time. It is quite unpleasant."<p>

"I prefer standing."

"I insist though." Elena's voice took on an unyielding tone as her eyes narrowed and turned a darker shade of red before returning to normal. It only took less than a second and yet Integra was forced to move against her will and found herself sitting on the chair before she even had time to blink. All the while the auburn haired vampire kept on smiling, a fine and elegant smile hiding the satisfaction within. "Now then," Her smiles brightens a little more in an ever so sweetly tone. "Your question?"

And an answer would have come had they both not heard the sudden scream shouting 'no' from the room next door. Integra's first reaction was to bolt off the armchair, her hands gripping the twin armrest to push herself up, but she's stopped in her tracks.  
>You must not." Elena quickly interjects immediately after hear the boy scream. "It is not a matter for mortal hands nor a cause for those immortal. Neither would accomplish a task solely destined for one's own blood." She then pauses noticing the somewhat disillusioned expression written on the knight's face. She appeared deeply lost in thought.<p>

"Is it so strange a thing to bare?" she asks with the utmost curiosity while slightly leaning forward and watching as some of the tension in Integra's shoulders dissipates. "The sight of a powerful being such as him on his hands and knees like a sickly and helpless child, fragile and dying. Holding onto nothing and baring nothing upon his person. Feeble and weak, barely holding on to his own retched existence?"

_He is Nosferatu. He has not his castles, his kingdom or his subjects._

_Nor has he the heart of another, or eve a heart of his own…_

"You seem so lost." Elena speaks up breaking the knight current train of through with great ease, her tone so full of interest. "What is it you are thinking of?" she is then unable to hide the subtle grin from spreading over her lips.

_He wonders aimlessly and blindly forward._

_He appears woeful, pitiful child, crying and shuttering on his knees._

_But when forced to live on forever, how much longer must he hold onto this wretched, immortal existence?_

"It's personal." Integra smirks without falling for the vampire's trap. "Just something I heard from an old man a very long time ago. And something that seems to ring far more true now with that particular image in the back of my mind."

"As most things are when we are finally able to comprehend their true meaning." Elena tells her as black card appears in her right hand. "Such a dreadful state to be in, wouldn't you agree? For a vampire it is bearable, but a human…" She pauses in order to turn the card over and reveal the hanged man upside-down. He hangs by one foot from a cross while the other is bent to form the shape of number '4'. His arms are bent behind his back and his face shows no suffering. "Agony." She lets go of the card and the latter floated in mid air between them. "In truth, I have not drawn this card for some time now. And it has rarely come up for my master, though it seems appropriate at this time."

"Really?"

"You don't know much about ancient magic, do you Sir Hellsing?"

"I know enough to get by those undead and the occult. But reading cards was not something I took interest in."

"The hanged man floats weightless between two realms, alive and dead, and may see them both. A privilege and a curse which requires sacrifice either way. All this to bring about change into the world. And the certainty he brings is that once you have him you'll never see things quite the same again."

A second and a third card appear between her index and middle finger: the magician and the fool. "These two on the other hand hold different secrets. It is said that the magician creates tools into the world so that the fool may use them as he sees fit, but at the same time those very tools were already there laid out before the fool long before the magician even came along. I am the magician supplying the path and he the fool taking it without knowing the true danger that lies ahead. For even if the magician did bring them into the world he may have no way of predicting the possible outcome of said actions, it may have been a simple fluke. And if never created them I the first place, then he's merely playing with fire."

"You like talking cryptically."

"I do, yes." Elena smiles. "It is a gift."

"What path did you offer vampire? I'm assuming it has to do with Seras."

"It does, yes." She lets go of both card letting them join the Hanged man. "But the story is too long and complicated. I did as he asked to the best of my abilities. I put boundaries and he somehow still managed to bypass them and even keep things from me which is why the entire thing went to hell. I didn't expect him to choose his own death so unwisely." The fourth card to appear was once again Death. "I have drawn this so many times in such a sort time and it still comes up every now and then."

"You can't fix it, can you?" Integra says knowing how to read between the lines.

"No. And neither can he."

Flashback

_"Lay him down." _

_The three reentered the large villa heading into the study without delay. The lights and the fire were both still out, the cards still face up on the table where they were left and the shadows swirling over the flat surface of the walls and furniture; the white mist continued to line the hall floor. Elena walked back to the table collecting them all and restacking them with a simple sway of her hand while Seras headed for the couch instead, her arms supporting the small body of her master as she helped him sit down by kneeling next to his side. Her right hand swept a few damp bangs from his forehead after pushing the hood of his head and the tips of her fingers came back slightly bloody. His flesh was still hot to the touch and after being out in the cold his temperature would only grow in the following minutes and hours to come. His lips were bluish and parted and his skin pale as he wheezed while breathing and attempted to keep his breath under control at the same time. The sound was therefore light and not hoarse as it should have been under the circumstances. _

_Seras gently traced the shape of his left cheek with the pads of her fingers for a moment longer before cupping the side of his face and brushing her thumb over it tilting his head upward to meet his glazed over blue eyes. She then moved to stand, but as her hand dropped from his face between them his own left hand reached out grasping her wrist. His eyes close for a moment, eyelids dropping in sweet satisfaction at the pure and genuine sentiment just a simple touch could induce. He lean into the tender touch with a barely audible sigh passing his lips as the coldness of her skin fells heavenly against his heated one. _

_"Why human?" Elena questions without needing to be told anything in advanced. The scent of the boy's blood was far too potent and strong to miss. Her back remains to the two a little longer with her right hand stilled over the stack of neatly folded black cards in the middle of the table and her fingers slowly tracing the back of the first card._

_"It proves amusing..." The prince replies with a more than feeble, hoarse and broken voice. He's sick, his lungs protest to each breath and his throat is beyond sore making it difficult to both speak and swallow. "To play the part and…reap the benefits…" _

_"Bleeding on my clean floor?" she responds with yet another rather ironic question. "Any floor for that matter?" _

_"If I have to." He tells her taking several deep breaths and tightening his hold on Seras's wrist. His mouth curls in a short lived grimace which he tries to hide by attempting to smile. "To be human is to appear as such in every way: frail, weak… vulnerable and utterly breakable. Getting hurt…is a necessity..." _

_"And being sick as a dog as well my master."_

_It is only then that Seras adverts her gaze and turns it towards the auburn haired vampire._

_"You don't know, do you?" Elena addresses her while slowly turning around to face the younger vampire. "Who I really am?" _

_"I don't really care." Seras tells her which in turn ears her a hidden smile from the black haired next to her. "Just help him."_

Flashback end

"Time and time again, we live to remember that which defines us so that, when the time comes, we may recognize ourselves within the darkness. Sometimes though," the Chariot appeared next. "We sink close to the shore forgetting who we are. For when the fool finds the charioteer he asks him to real the secret of defeating ones enemy and the latter offer him the ocean instead. Sink and die exhausted fighting the waves or…"

"Or swim with them slowly approaching the shore in the pace they set."

"Very good Sir Hellsing. You have a gift for interpretation."

"You say it as though it were truly a _gift_. I could go to any fortune teller and receive a different or perhaps equal reply."

"There is no point in disagreeing, it is indeed true. But I have never been wrong." All four card disappear at this point with a flick of her wrist. "And time has proven itself my teacher and a wise one at that. My mother taught me before my father had her _removed_ for doing so, a meaning you will undoubtedly understand. He had power and influence and he only offered one warning. His spines were everywhere. Of course the world mourned for the loss of Lady Westenra who died of a sickness of the lungs and a weak constitution brought forth by my birth. And though that may true, the poison inducing paralysis was given to her by his hand alone." Elena then smiles, but it is sad and melancholic and her eyes are far away as she turns her head away from the young mother for a moment. "You find out the most horrifying thing when drinking the blood of others. And of course I was still a child at that time and my new _mother_ did not approve just like my father. So I continued in secret. Simple Lucy Westenra became _Elena_ since Elena was free to do as she pleases while Lucy remained trapped. Elena was my mother's name and I wasn't ashamed to take it as my own."

"And then _he_ came."

"He did." She smiles again. "And he turned the world around making it _fun_ for the first time. For all those things mentioned in that stupid book came forth after he arrived. The whole idea of crossing thousand of miles of ocean and land for a mere female is both absurd and idiotic. He was doing other things."

"I bet he was." Integra leans back into the chair for the first time crossing her arms yet again. "He is a _child_." She then states as a matter of fact and not a question or surprise. And the word 'child' was pronounced like a sin, an abnormality that should never have come to life.

"He would grin and say 'for now'."

"Good God don't you do that either." Integra sigh bringing her right hand to the bridge of her nose for a second. "It's enough that Seras sometimes does it."

"The master and childe bond goes deep. As you yourself will soon discover." Just then the baby stirred awake with a low cry pushing against the blanket wrapped around her with her hands. Sitting up Integra makes a move towards her daughter under the still vigilant watch of the auburn haired vampire. She watches her go and take the child in her arms before returning her attention to her own right hand and the newest card appearing between her finger: the empress.

"This was once yours, The Empress barring seed of new life. Creation that is delicate and fragile. And so she watches over patient, loving, generous and kind. Though there can always be a darker side to it in the form possessiveness and jealousy, anger towards those who would dare take it away."

With the child securely in her arms Integra sits back in the armchair without yet offering a small measure of attention to the still talking vampire. She hears her clearly, but her priorities lay elsewhere for the time being. The little girl's eyes, which now sleepily stared at her, were so very blue. The cry all but stops as soon the sound of her mother's soft voice reaches the child's ears and she settles more comfortably in her embrace. Her tiny hands emerge from beneath the blanket and ball into small fists, her fingers holding onto the soft plush fabric, as she yawns sleepily while gently rocked up and down.

"Fate smiled kindly upon her." Elena whispers while leaning against the open door as not to wake the infant. "For Death had a claim on both your live as well." The death card repapered and she held both face turned towards the young mother. And it is then while hearing the word 'death' that Integra turns her attention back to the vampire. "As I said, I have drawn it many times. But you had fortune in the Tower coming to your aid and his love of war." The card in question manifested behind death as she now held all three: the empress, death and the tower one after another in her right hand. "The best card to describe my master is this: the tower. War between what is and what was in so many forms. The original build it at the beginning of his journey in selfish pride leaving his mark of grandeur upon the world. Then finding truth and wisdom he rejects it and the heavens open up swallowing it up. His inner self emerges from darkness afraid and in disbelief, yet free and free to build anew on a foundation far more powerful." Dropping all three cards they float towards the small coffee table laid out between the couch and armchair landing on its surface. "If you can understand that, then I can tell you that is more or less what my former master has done to himself and what he unconsciously pushed Seras to do as well. And both are stranded in a sea of ruins."

"Of course they are." Integra ironically chuckles softly caressing the baby's cheek. "The world would fall into ruin and decay otherwise."

"Nothing will happen to her, you don't need to worry. The blood he gave you won't hurt her. She will be normal."

"Really? You have a card for that, do you?"

"Actually no. there was no need to look into her life. But if I had to," a small flick of her wrist brought forth the Sun. "She is bright and happy, innocent hope in the darkness surrounding you. She will be fine."

"You took her from me. As I lay dying?"

"I did. We brought you here and I brought her into this world. You are lucky to be alive. Had the shot not killed you the blood loss would have finished the job. With that said I will be honest in my affirmation of my displeasure of having Hellsing within my house not just as a vampire, but as one wronged by your blood as well. It is not something I approve of, but he changed my life for the better despite the suffering I had to endure to reach this point. He has paid for my help towards both you and her so I will fulfill my part obediently."

"In other words I should not fear you?"

"You would be a fool not to do so. I am still a predator and you my hunter and that won't change. But that doesn't mean we can't act in a civilized manner towards each other. There are three vampires staying here beside me, my fledgling and two other I consider close. Do not engage them and they will not engage you. They know to keep a secret. "

"Keep them from my child I won't scatter their ashes beneath my feet." Integra replies with a playful and serious smirk. It may sound as a harmless joke, but it was anything but a joke.

"I understand." Elena replies with a nod before standing to her feet.

"Is there anything else you wish to ask me before I take my leave? The House lay burning as we took you away." She hints at a different subject, one which Integra does not fail to take.

"Was there a boy?" She almost hesitantly asked gazing down at the baby in her arms. "With dark hair, blue eyes and dre…"

"They ripped his wings of." Elena does not fail to answer. "I know who he is and I saw his fate. Your knight lays stripped of his honor left bleeding in the snow. But you were my priority at the time. I do not know where he his."

"I see." Integra whispers gazing down at the baby and pushing back the tiny cap off her head. She smiles sadly; the baby's hair was black.

**.**

**.**

The blue eyes that opened were partially blinked several times while adjusting to the soft glow of the artificial and dimmed light of the bed sided lamp. His eyelids fluttered as he lay on his stomach with his head turned to the right and deeply buried in the soft pillow beneath it. The room soon became familiar as sleep left him and his mind became clear. Soft purring filled the room, the wordless lullaby of a tiny ball of white fur no bigger than a large powder puff that chased away the nightmares and offered peace in return.

The blanket no longer hung sideways off the bed, but covered him up to the middle of his back. The white shirt he wore was now pristine without any trace of blood upon it; no trace of the violent reactions he'd had but several hours ago. And snuggled up to his left side, halfway under the blanket, was the source of the constant purring hidden away so that only the tip of her muzzle and tiny, black button nose peered from under it.

Vlad's hands were the second to move as his fingers twitched and curled around the warm bedding surrounding him; his right arm was under the pillow while the left lay sprawled next to his side over the blanket. Surprisingly, as moved it, something thin and soft was entwined with his fingers and as he brought it up to his face.

Turning his head around he found himself starring at the silken red ribbon and the silver cross tied to its end. The thin black string was gone and with it almost the entire pain within his body. There was no discomfort; no crepitating bones and no throbbing pain whatsoever as he slowly moved.

"Of course…" he whispers to himself not loud enough to break through the gentle and never-ending purring. Dropping his arm he test the boundaries of his hypotheses further by pressing both his elbows into the mattress and then using them to push himself up on his knees and sit back on the bed. The joy is short lived though. His arm may no longer hurt, but the skin on his back continued to protest and sting regardless. Blunt teeth sank into his bottom lip with a light hiss and it took him a moment to unclench his hands and straighten his back before being able to properly sit on the bed. He then pulls the long sleeve of the shirt from his left forearm inspecting a wound that was no longer there; only the remnants of an already faded large bruise over the place where the fracture had been remained, but it too seemed almost healed as he carefully traced two fingers over its surface.

The purr broke for a second soon after he sat up and a deep inhale followed in its place, before restarting once again: soft at first then ever louder. With a smile the prince pushes the blanket back, scoops the tiny bundle into both hands and leans back enough to free his legs from under him and raise them up to bring his knees up in front of his chest. He places her on top and the purring stops just barely having begun. Twin tiny and triangular ears with a soft pink interior pop up while a matching little tail brushes against his left palm curling around his last pinky.

_Meow…_

The boy's lips curl in a genuine smile at the greeting sound, a smile that grows wider when the big, blue eyes of the tiny kitten lazily open. Her mouth then parts in a second meow followed by a large yawn and the stretching of her small body in a very cat like fashion. The only thing that seems _strangely_ out of place with that image was the appearance of tiny claws emerging form the pads of her front paws and the sharp and pointed canines so much more prominent than those of any baby kitten.  
>"You stayed awake." He softly tells her while starting to stoke her back and tenderly move his fingers up along the curve of her spine keeping her awake as her eyes easily betray the exhaustion she was fighting against. Despite resting in the coffin earlier it hadn't been nearly enough. A whole day had passed, night falling once again, and she had stayed up for the majority of the hours in order to watch over his sleep and keep the nightmare at bay.<p>

Seras purrs at the touch and the sound her chest emits is different: happy and pleased, content instead of soothing and comforting.

"Thank you…" he pauses just enough to raise his knees a bit more and bring her closer to his head as he curls his back to better accommodate the new position. A silent sigh escapes him while moving, one that doesn't go unnoticed and is immediately questioned by a third meow. "It would have been just another nightmare, one I've had before. You do not have to stay up and care for my dreams." Although his tone was grateful his words spoke of acceptance long ago reached. And with it more of the joy in the kitten's irises faded hearing those words. Her ears drop and she pushes her head against his right hand beginning to purr apologetically.

"It's not yours to give." He tells her easily understanding what the look in her eyes meant. "Stop…" _Looking at me like that._

/I prefer you smiling than preying in vain with your eyes shut for God to save you./ her voice echoes inside his mind.

"Don't go there." He warns. His voice may not have trembled, but the involuntary twitch of his fingers around her body was just as good. His reply was short, hard and commanding and put an end to her purring once and for all. He was crushing her tiny body with his grip, a fact he did not notice until the gentle prick of the kitten's claws against his skin alerted him of the pressure he was applying. At that he immediately pulls his hands away, drops his keens and turns his head to look anywhere but forward. One instinct had been to apologies, but that would mean acknowledging yet another weakness: shame. Shame for something he never had any control over and something that could never be undone.

/Forgive me master./

"Seras…" _stop talking_.

That was it, plain and simple…Stop talking, just stop. And she did.

Though still perched on top of his knees she becomes as quite as a mouse and stood up and taking on a very specific cat like pose with her front paws together and tail curled around them as much as the tiny limb could encircle. She sits and waits and watches with eyes wide and large and left ear lightly twitching.

It takes more than a minute for her to get the smallest reaction, a hint nothing more, in the form of a slight twitch of his upper lip. And when the bridge is crossed the prince's shoulders give off a light tremble shaking…he laughs. A very small yet happy laugh that only lasts a few seconds. "Oh to mock the tragic so."

/Master?/

His hands curl around her small body anew encasing it as soon as the word 'master' is uttered and his knees move back up towards his chest. Strands after strands of charcoal hair frame the small creature covering her white fur as his forehead drops to rest over her small body. The room goes silent with nothing but faded sounds coming from beyond the room reverberating in the distance. Vlad's mouth moves softly, his lips intimately pressed against the velvet like blush colored patch of skin lining the inner side of the kitten's right ear. Her tail stops swinging as soon as the words pass his lips and hangs lifeless in mid air for about a second before slowly descending in one single move until it rests upon his knee, the tip curling inward.

Several black strands drape over her when the boy turns his head placing his mouth directly over the sweet spot between the kitten's small triangular ears. Her body no longer sits perfectly still but is slightly leaning forward in a sharp angle supported by both of his hands: thumbs pressing over the middle of her ribcage and her slow beating heart. It was the only form left that still bore the presence of a perfectly functioning organ; her humanoid form having lost it entirely.

The words were uttered with conviction, breathless words warming the top of her head softly as he spoke. And soon after her gentle purring filled his ears bathing the room in the soothing lullaby.

"You're always so warm." He whispers raising his head. And as their blue eyes meet his reflect a warm gaze.

/I'm cold./ comes her reply as her large irises bore straight into his genuinely smiling face. It was never once a simple reference to body heat.

.

.

"I had expected you sooner, but you seemed reluctant to talk to me earlier."

Several more hours into the short winter day bringing forth the setting of the sun. Elena was sitting at her table, the fire roaring behind her, reading a book and sipping fresh blood from her elegant tea cup. "Will you be joining me, this time?"

As she spoke the tea holder rose on his own pouring blood into a second cup. A small cloud of inky black mist appeared next to and the small white kitten emerged from it. Her large blue eyes scanned the area, ears slightly twitching, as she took a seat in the middle of the table curling her small tail around her front legs once more. "If you've left your master asleep then we are all alone."

The kitten remained silent with only her left ear twitching once in acknowledgement of the auburn haired vampire's words.

"Tell me you one, have you yet asked who I am? And if so what was his answer?" Taking a sip she places the teacup back onto its plate and waits for an answer that never comes. Seras continues to stay quite tilting her head to the right.

"Your familiar was once different, was it not? A fox if I recall." That got the draculina's attention as her eyes drifted over her own tiny body without actually meaning to examining it. The gesture causes the elder female to smile and reach out with her left hand towards the kitten, a mirror appearing in her hand. And the kitten's reflection within in changed to that of a large fox with golden pelt and many beautiful tails. "I may assume it was either never real, something your master made you believe to be true, or it was a simple for he helped guide you through in order to achieve a hidden purpose of his own."

The kitten's blue eyes lingered on the reflected image, an image that moved in the mirror just she did outside of it. "You do not recall this part of your life, do you little one?" at those words the kitten hissed barring her teeth and the small mirror cracked in Elena's hand distorting the image shown.

"I find it strange to get only such a small reaction from the sentence. After all," while speaking she places the mirror down and a tarot card appears in her place. It was the tower, but as Seras looked at it the structure within the card itself crumbled to pieces. "This is what he's done to you. And I have my fledgling to confirm it. The castle lies in ruin Seras Victoria and I am the one that had you bound to it."

_Let her feed. It will make things easier… _

The words reach emerging from the card before her and as soon as her blue eyes fall back on the shattered image she sees herself in her master's arms with the auburn haired vampire watching them from the foot of the bed they lay in whispering those exact words. Seras immediately backs up arching her spine, barring both her claws and teeth and narrowing her eyes in a dangerous and low hiss.

"There's no need for that Miss Victoria." Elena chuckles without being intimidated by the small show of power. She was far more adorable, her white fur all bristled and raised, than actually intimidating. "The past is in the past and not worth mentioning any longer. We are not at war, you and I. for I am after," she reaches out despite the second warning knowing the kitten would bite; and bite she does. The wounds are small and the blood tickles out of them to drip onto the pristine white tablecloth. A small amount marred her mouth and coated her tongue showing her exactly who Elena was.

Flashback

"_Had I wanted you harmed you'd long be no more child." The rough deep voice spoke watching as the young vampire scurried away from him putting ample space between them. The action caused the second prisoner to chuckle deeply in what seemed to be genuine amusement. It pleased him greatly to get such a satisfying reaction, one always received in the face of fear and uncertainty. The girl clutched at her dress trying to hide as much as she could using the ripped fabric. _

"_Who are you?" Her eyes having adjusted the blackness scanned his silhouette which leisurely leaned against the foot of the stairs, his back to the cold stone structure. His left arm stood bent over his raised left knee and his partially covered face watched her intently. His features were calm. A light smirk was quickly followed by his answer. _

"_No one of importance." The mysterious figure leaned in allowing the small ray of light to touch the rest of his face revealing a pale complexion, high cheekbones, a strong jaw and twin molten crimson eyes that watched disbelief take over her face._

_"Yo…you…" she can barely get the words out. Her jaw trembles making it difficult for her to speak and her crimson eyes keep going the face before time and time again unable to believe __**he **__is really there. "Master?"_

_Still laughing the elder vampire smirk then replies. "Yes little one." And the young vampire waists no time in crawling to him stopping when her knees almost hit his and taking his face between the palms of her hands. The light falls on her hair revealing blackened by dirt and sooth making it look as though ebony black, though a few rebel strands continued to defy that color and remained true to the autumn red she'd turned too leaving bright, golden yellow behind._

_"Why?" she whispers the words so softly they echo like a powerful scream in the silence of the room left behind the fading chuckle._

"_We do what we must to survive." He whispers in return bringing his right arm forward into the light; the beginnings of an intricate design marred the back of his hand just under his knuckles looking as though burned directly into his flesh. _

Flashback end

"I came before you as other were before me. But you and I are all that's left."

_This is all that's left of my house now: cold stones, scattered bones forgotten in a broken crypt, a vial monster and you __**my draculina**__. The rest have been scattered by the wind._

The kitten hisses a second time and the sound is a rumble low and deep from her tiny chest.

"Does that statement make you angry childe? Or my words perhaps?" Elena places her left elbow onto the table and leans her chin in the cradle of her palm smirking slyly. "Or is it the fact that you are not the _only_ _one_ any more?"

"Why come to _you_ at all?" inky mist surrounds the kitten reverting her to her human form in seconds; she stands tall and proud on the other side of the table speaking with determination.

"Does it bother you so? That _he_ came to _me_?"

Yet instead of answering Seras lowers her voice leaving all trace of anger in the past.

"Master is sick and said to come to you. I did as asked."

"But not as you pleased."

"If my master wished it, I did it. That is all you need to know."

"You need not idolize a man simply from being made of his blood. And walk blindly in the footsteps he leaves. It is how you are in this mess i…"

"Master did not poison me. H…"

"But he took your life away, didn't he? And he never told you about me either."

Seras pauses in her reply lightly tilting her head to the left. "I did not ask."

"Never asked or never though to ask?" Elena clarifies letting her arm drop and making the entire tea set disappear; a black stack of card appearing in its place. "Or did you never know who your master truly was?"

She takes the first card turning it over and revealing the tower in all its glory once more. "Please sit. I would speak my blood sister." Gesturing with her other hand she moves the second chair a little in silent invitation. Seras on the other hand continues to hesitate a moment longer before finally sitting down, arm crossing under her chest. Her crimson irises never leave Elena's.

"Once again am not pray, you not display that look upon. I could have harmed you long ago had I wanted. None would have known, even our master." Elena takes a second card off the top of the deck: Temperance. The card still looked sickly: the angel's wings dark and loosing feathers, the pool of water beneath its feet blood, the robe it wore tattered and the cups rusty still mixing blood and water. "Long ago, this is what I drew for your master when we parted for good. And at the time power was found within the loss of freedom. I was already dead who would miss me? My master would be bound and what they would do with m," she pauses only to smile. "Do you now wish to know my name? My real one?" she whispers at the end with a card not of that deck appearing in her right hand. The back of it was crimson red, yet faded with age in several places and it was obvious that the card had at some point been crushed in ones hand from the folds marring it.

Elena places the card in question face up in a horizontal position under the two already lined up on the table. It showed a blood red moon.

"When I was still a child my mother liked to tell me stories my father never approved of. They were filled with magic and wonder and she taught me look at a person and see them for what they were. See their hidden secrets and know who they were. She taught me to read their actions and intentions and gave me these cards as a present when I turned 10. The moon found me many times she toll me before she died. She was struggling to breathe by the time the end came by my father's own hand, but she gave me this card and the perfect blue moon turned blood red when it touched my hand. The Moon, she told me, holds visions and illusions, is mad yet genius, both a dream and a nightmare, magic and intuition." Elena smiles fondly remembering the warm face of her mother and the softness of her touch as she brushed the top of her head that one final time. "She knew where my path would lead me and told me to embrace it should my steps lead me on the path," the second crimson card appeared partially over the moon face down. And with one flick of the wrist it turned over, the Devil making his appearance. "Of finding my devil myself."

"Master is not a demon." Seras tells gazing up from the card in question.

"I did not say he was. But most people confuse this card. It is a preconditioned response one cannot easily break. The devil means to see within. What one desires or wants? What gives temptation, pleasure or power and what holds power over you? Slave or enslave others? One must understand and see these within a part of ones soul before attempting to reap the benefits. The trickster plays his part and offers power for blood, life through death where we do what we must to survive." Their eyes meet and Elena's lips curl into a subtle smile. "It is a lesson he's shared, is it not?"

"Yes." Seras whispers.

"And did you understand it?"

"Did you?" She's questioned in return without giving her answer.

"In time." Elena replies. She then leans back into her own chair taking another black card in her right hand and holding it so that it faces her. "Though my struggle was not as, shall we say _intense_ as yours proved to be. And yet," she sighs closing her eyes for a moment. "My card had always remained the Moon, mystery and magic never changing, while yours began with the tainted angel." She gestures with a corner of the card in her hand showing temperance before raising her hand and the turned card and, with a move of her thumb, showing a second black card behind the first. "I offered my life for that card and its wisdom. A life for a life when the time would come and it is all I left him with in the dark dungeon beneath the House of Hellsing. The only way to escape that place was to die and believe me it wasn't easy. But as my master he saw to it and my freedom."

Elena now places both face down card next to the other three, but doesn't yet turn them over. "Despite the rumors and stories he's not really a monster." She smiles correcting herself. "_The monster_ the world has made him to be. Deep down, never showing, he cares. We are the _last_."

"What's your name?" Seras finally asks not yet reaching out to turn the cards over herself.

"What do you think my name is? Who am I Seras Victoria? Who has been before you?"

"I don't know."

"Do you wish to know if I was in your place once?"

"No."

"If I was _you_ once?"

"No."

"If I _loved_ him?"

"She does too." Seras replies without fail. "In some way, my master's master cares as well. Why shouldn't you?"

"I meant it in the sense as you **love** him now. Without resentment towards what he had done to you and blind faith a…"

"I resent." Seras tells he, her tone firm and voice hard as though it were almost emotionless. "And I'm upset…he lied…"

"But you love?"

Once more she pauses and hastily, as though angry, reaches for the cards with her right hand and turns both over showing Strength and Lovers." I don't know what that is. I can't remember if I did."

"You started with temperance then found strength which is the resentment you hold when everything is telling you not to feel it. The sacrifice once made to save you stripped you of all leaving you bare to the lashing of the world. It broke your tower and you will never be able to rebuild it. Temperance for one of our kind is a delicate balance between life mortal and immortal in this vessel we hold as human form. But we are a mix of water and blood in the end and held within a tiny cup easily spilled or broken if not cared for. You understand this?"

Seras only nods and spares a glance towards the closed door of the room where the prince rested.

"I would have liked to meet you earlier. I could have told you what you were."

"She will tell." Seras tells her. "Hellsing protects me."

"Indeed. I saw it within her mind. She holds you close despite being hunter and prey in both sense of the word. Love still holds you close Seras just in different forms."

"Is this all you have?"

"Do you not wish my name any longer?"

"I never did. If you do not hurt him it is enough."

"Your trust runs deeper than your resentment. A noble quality. Act, action performed and target can always be changed and the answers they reveal forever changing. An act of sacrifice for self love or love as the act to propel towards sacrifice. The cards have not revealed it." Elena smiles softly grabbing her cup to sip the remainder of the blood.

/You may drink. It is fresh./ She whispers inside Seras's mind while raising her eyes over the edge of the cup to gaze at her. This time around Seras reaches for the cup bringing it closer. Yet she still does no more than bring it closer to taste the fragrance alone.

"You are very guarded, I understand that. But I will cause you no harm and you may ask Vlad about it should you desire."

"You could tell me."

"I may, but you will not believe it." Elena corects her trying to make her see a greater truth. "He is not always right Seras. Despite all that were even vampires remain just human in many aspects. To err is human and our judgment is not absolute or divine regardless of age. Even if he is our master do not follow him blindly without your own mind made up."

"Master is not the master you think I believe him to be." Seras tells her finally taking a sip. The blood is only luck warm having cooled, but the taste is strong and rich; fresh virgin blood coating her mouth and sliding down her throat as though burning hot.

/You may drink it all if you choose./ once again Elena's words speak softly into her mind urging her to drink the entire cup. She does, and its heaven. Her body was still so weak and…truly starving…

"He was right about one thing. You refuse with great strength regardless of hunger. And he was right about few actually seeing such a feat. Most would drink."

"I am me." Not most and not anyone. One Seras Victoria just as there was only one Lucy Westenra. And both rare gems belonged to a fierce dragon.

"You are, yes." Elena smiles softly and there is true happiness within her crimson eyes. "One trait no man or beast will ever break and a trait we both share. Were are ourselves come darkness or light. And we both dies under a blood red moon in the arms of a dragon."

Having finished the blood Seras sets the cup down and stands up ready to leave. But then she lingers if only for a moment longer. "Did the third wish us dead and is it still trying?"

"Third?" Elena questions placing her own cup down. Her face betrays nothing, but there is a small glimmer in her crimson eyes that speaks of secrets and lost truths. "There is _no longer_ a third." She tells the younger vampire and the latter understands picking up on the subtle hint and change in tone as certain words are spoken. "She died by our master's hand." Seras turns her head to spare one last glance at the auburn haired vampire. "And you were there to see it happen. Her hair was black and her eyes once blue. Her name was…"

"Thank you." She's interrupted before her voice can give one final breath to the creature that was once known as their third blood sister, Mina. She is thanked for her food and her words then left in the company of her cards beside the warm and cozy fire.

"I am Lucy." Her words make Seras stop in stride for a mere short moment. "Or Elena if you prefer it. And will talk again." There is nod of acknowledgement or smile or turn of the head to tell her she's been heard. Seras starts walking as soon as she gives her first name and the rest of her words follow her like a faint echo until she opens the door to her master's room, steps inside and closes it. She walks from light back into darkness.

"The life once had hopeful and bright." though there is no longer any one in the room Elena speaks softly with a smile on her face and her right hand turns card after card from the top of the stack: The Star, hopeful and bright.

"Crushed beneath the shadow of a heavy thrown and burden where death stood patiently waiting for the moment to strike." The Emperor's card is placed over the star with death to its immediate right. The emperor: strong leader…father...

"He is energy and guidance towards a steady path, respected and loved, but capricious and whimsical at times no better than a child. Demanding, controlling and strong willed, he must first find balance in himself before bestowing it on others."

The next to follow is the Fool.

"Life became the Fool. As the first in the desk the fool struggled to comprehend the world around him." She smiles brighter tracing her right index finger over the card in question. "Two lambs such as us made from ancient blood so did we. For the beauty of the Fool lies in his imperfection and his ability to forever be something old or new regardless of his previous existence and remaining thoughts and feelings on things that have gone before. The Fool defines ration and exists, **is**, _Nothing and Everything_. " She places him next to death. "So now the fool has challenged Death. And between one who never changes and one forever changing the path is long and constant, ever moving."

The chariot graced her fingers next, the journey.

"The wheels turn, but need control and direction to bring it victory. For light will always shine after dark," She draws the sun placing it over death. "As dark will forever follow light." The Sun that came to life in the Fools realization of his own inner light, his strength to go on and see himself anew regardless.

"The challenge is to beat Death." She reaches for the Lovers card already on the table and drags it from its place upon to rest it on top of the sun. "And find love." A card not always about love, but rather a choice to be made.

"Love to a fool is regretful, but a Fool's love is endless." She whispers just as her fledgling walks through a wall entering the room.

"to love is too look beyond personal pride." Turn last card over, the shining sun. "And put someone else's needs before your own."

"I dropped the letter as requested master. And I took Lady Hellsing some food once I returned. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Yes." Elena peers over one shoulder to look at her fledgling with a mischievous glint I her eyes. "Do not call her a Lady, she doesn't like it." Chuckling softly she turns her attention back to her cards and gathers them up one at a time.

"If you say." Madalene replies walking up to her master's table and taking a seat in Seras's place. "But I still find it strange." She watches as each card is taken away.

"Not if you are of her blood line. Yet even as a Sir instead of a Lady she is the strongest Hellsing has had since the death of Abraham van Hellsing. The first true hunter of monster to strike fear into us all. She is his legacy. And I ask," The auburn vampire raises her gaze before taking the Sun and Death away. "That you _respect_ that. Even in war true leaders hold respect each other when proven worthy."

"We aren't at war master. Not with her at least."

"If you only see her as a new mother, loving and caring, then the pain of her sword will strike you harder than that of a cold and calculated hunter only doing his duty. Do not let your guard down out of respect for it's not the meaning of the word I've been referring to."

"Yes master." Madalene said nodding her head. Almost all the cards are gone, though the Lovers, the crimson Moon and the red Devil. "You've shown her _your_ cards." She states carefully taking the last two cards in her hands, her fingers brushing against the soft almost velvet like back of the twin crimson cards. In truth they were the only two cards she had left over from her mother's original deck: the moon had been given and the devil found.

"They had one last story to tell." Elena extends her left hand silently asking for the cards and leaves the last card standing alone on the white surface of the table. A small black box appears in her right hand and she carefully places the two side by side within. The box then vanishes from her hand returning to a safe place only _Lucy_ knew about.

"And this one master?" Madalene asks seeing the card behind while her master picks up the rest of the desk, sits up and leaves the table. "Don't you need it?"

"Tell me, what is love Madalene?" the young fledgling is asked as Elena walks around the table to where she stands and takes the card from Madalene's right hand. She studies it awaiting her answer, holding it in her right hand and carefully tracing its surface with her thumb.

"There are too many answers to that question master."

"Yes I know." She carefully places it back into the deck. "But what do you think it is?"

"For now," Madalene begins but then pauses as though unsure of her answer. Perhaps it would be wise to remain silent.

"I am listening little one." Yet her master's voice stay calm and gentle encouraging her further; just as it always has in the past and will do so in the future.

"You are love to me now." Madalene confesses standing up from her own chair to face her master and look her in the eyes. "You are **home**."

"One day I won't be. Not anymore."

"Then I will take that day when it comes and _love_ what I have till then."

"Let us eat." Elena raises her left hand cupping Madalene's right cheek, her thumb caressing her cheekbone. She smiles wishing to hold onto that moment a while longer. For as she reshuffled the cards while her fledgling was approaching Death found a new victim to claim in the form of the Wheel of fortune. And it was that very fortune that could easily be washed away in the tide that followed the violent storm to come. Her house might not be safe for much longer. It hung in the balance and the fortune of that one tiny letter. "And I will tell you a secret."

"What you think love is?" Madalene playfully asks as the two head towards the third door of the large room.

"Perhaps I will." Elena replies.

/But I know a truth that sound far better./ She thinks as her crimson eyes momentarily fall on the back door the room in a quick glance and her thoughts drift to a conclusion the young draculina had unconsciously offered during their talk. She smiles gazing at the door with a fond expression and soft eyes even as her own fledglings says something more while opening the other door and stepping out onto the hallway.

/Love is…/

"I will get a fresh bottle and prepare it." The young fledgling tells her vanishing from sight, rushing down the hall and then stairs heading towards the cool basement below. She knew just the _year_ to please her master. The childe is happy as she goes on her journey. She does not see death lurking behind the corner.

"Go and I will keep you safe." Elena whispers glancing down at her deck of black cards without disturbing any more. It was enough for one night. "Just as she will keep him."

_"You do not resent."_

_"I do." But I choose to look beyond it._

_**For Love is to look beyond personal Pride. And put someone else's needs before your own.**_

To be continued….

Next chapter will be on the 25 or 26th since I'll be a little busy on the 24th. Happy Christmas.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 22**

Season's greetings to all my readers. I hope you all had a great Christmas. :)

Here's the chapter, last one of the year, and I'll see you all next year. So have and have a great night on the 31st.

bye.

.

Chapter 22

The clock struck half passes nine and baby cooed softly. Fed, changed and warm, sleep started to lure it in once again. She yawns widely while her small right hand still held onto one of the longer strands of platinum blond hair. Integra's hair was still a mess, very short in the back and close to almost shoulder long in the front due to the way Heinkel had grabbed her before cutting it.

"Let go…." She whispers with a soft smile peeling her strand of hair out of her tiny hand with great care. She was a small baby and being at least a month premature made her even smaller. Both the lavender blanket and the pink hat were on the bed with the former sprawled out on the bed in front of the young mother. "You must sleep." She tells her gently placing the child on the blanket and wrapping it around her tiny body to keep her warm. Afterwards she cradles her back in her arms and stands up softly rocking her until Margo's eyes start to close. She was a very quite child, she made no fuss and she didn't scream from the top of her lungs when hungry or wet. "I'm sorry I yelled at your daddy. The things said weren't what I meant to say." Leaning she kisses Margo on the forehead just below the tiny scuff of black hair. Blue eyes had starred back at her for a moment longer then closed as sleep took her. "Your daddy won't be long, I promise." She whispers kissing her second time, yet the words aren't meant to comfort the baby alone; she needed them as well.

"No," A deep and somewhat rough voice, familiar though the difference was still noticeable, filled the room seconds before the chuckling started. "I don't think he won't." Integra immediately turned from the crib, her back hitting it as she startled by the eerie tone of the one person she truly wasn't expecting to see.

"Alucard." the sound of her own voice seems out of place as the deeply resonating chuckle continues to fill her ears and with it the shadows in the room morph revealing an opening portal and the imposing figure stepping out of it. Beside the window a knee high riding boot came out first, the leg and black pants afterwards, a red fedora had and cravat, orange glasses…

Every element was familiar and was as it should be. It was and looked as real as possible had it not been for the truth she'd seen earlier that night. There was no Alucard, there was just a boy. So this couldn't be real.

With a simple flick of his left wrist the lock in the door shuts with an audible click and the light dims eerily slow. And the vampire continued to grin throughout it all; that same iconic Cheshire cat grin she's seen so many times.

"A long way from home, aren't you?" she bravely tells him subsequently tightening her grip on her sleeping baby. She stood her ground tall and proud. He was just a vampire like any other no matter who he attempted to portray.

"Not nearly as far as you since you left your home _burning_ and in ashes." Though he grins the same he failed to mock her in the end of that speech with the title _my master_. A trait and mannerism the real vampire would have never let go of.

"And you left your bride."

"Have I?" He smiles allowing his orange glasses to slide down the ridge of his nose while never noticing the second mistake he'd already made. Seras was and would never be a mere _bride_. "She doesn't need myself holding her hand. And," he pauses taking his glasses off completely before looking at her from under his dark bangs. "You've seen her. She's doing fine,"

"Her wounds aren't yet healed. She still bleeds." Integra counters gambling with a piece of information not even true, but one the vampire might consider true. There had been only one vampire brought before her in the time Seras was still sick and still residing in the Hellsing manor. And if she was right then he would no more of her situation. Alucard was never generous with information. Not unless it's pried out of him after a good threat and several bullets to the scull.

"Bullet holes are small, they heal." He tells her and his eyes eventually narrow as though taking a moment to reconsider his very words. As though realizing he's made all too many mistakes already. He tries to correct himself, but it's already too late." I have not come to…"

"To converse about your fledgling?" she cuts him off. "Clearly not, though the _real_ you would have."

"Would he?" the vampire questions with an eerie and unnerving grin while stepping closer. The tips of his fangs peer from under his upper lip and the grin is no longer as friendly.

"I wouldn't come any closer." Integra warns him without making the smallest effort to move out of the way as the vampire approaches her.

"And why is that?" he mocks her by defiantly stopping directly in front of her, half a foot left between them. The sentence barely passes his lips when his senses flare up in warning him of impending danger. Everything happens so fast that the wound inflicted on his body prequels the pain until the vampire wised up enough to glance down at his chest and see the a thin and slender hand covered in blood stick out of his left hemi thorax. Then, just as fast, the hand pulls back under his stare taking the damaged rib it had broken with it. The sound of bone cracking echoed loudly as it was brutally ripped from his chest and he himself pulled forward due to the close proximity to the white haired vampire now standing in front of him.

The vampire stagers back in the wake of such action, the tips of three of his fingers heavily stained, and by the time he looks back up Seras he sees her standing protectively between himself and Integra. Her right hand was coated in blood and her fist closed around the broken piece of bone; the blood dripped onto the carpeted floor next to her right boot and the bone fell from her grasp not moments later.

Seras's eyes starred with shining crimson with unyielding precision and intensity. The vampire only grins in return, his injury healing as though it were nothing at all. The charade wasn't worth keeping any longer. Thus, his clothing and appearance changed: the black suit and boots melted away a dark grey long sleeved sweater reappeared in its place; dark pants and shoes to match and a black trench coat. The white gloves vanished, and the well as the crimson cravat turned into a black silken ascot.

"Miss Victoria." He purrs offering a slight nod of the head.

"Who are you?" she asks and the tone of her voice cuts through the air like a sharp blade.

"I apologies." he smiles. "I had forgotten you were asleep when last presented to me. A young and sleeping vampire."

"Who is he?" and yet Seras ignores him almost completely turning instead to Integra for answers.

"He used to be _accepted_. Let's leave it at that. Your master brought him." She then says emphasizing the word in anything but a flattering manner.

"Accepted, yes that would be right. The appropriate term as it were. We had but one meeting Sir Hellsing and I had an ever briefer stay at your house. What was I then before it all went up in smoke? A yes," he grins most amused revealing the tips of his lengthening fangs. "_Friend_."

"Foe would be best right now. Just where were you when it all came crashing down on me?" she replies with a grin of her own. "I had thought you smarter than disobeying him."

"Perhaps." He agrees not yet letting the grin fade from his face. "But he is not my master, never has been. He just _likes_ the attention. And by the looks of his newest coquets, I'd say he enjoys hearing it screamed into his ear quite a lot."

The walls of the room cracked as several black tendril rose up along its length from the ground. Seras's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the hidden meaning of his spiteful words and, for a moment, she let her anger slip passed her defenses. The wooden boards squeaked loudly beneath her own feet as black ink seeped through the fine cracks distending them further. The noise was enough this time to disturb the baby which started whimpering in her mother's embrace. "Careful Sir Hellsing," Nicolae whispers, a warning hidden in his otherwise amused tone of voice. The left side of his mouth curls upward as the building begins to reek of blood and death and the sound of doors breaking and glass in the distance shattering fills the air. The distinct sound of…

"The ghouls are not mine." He laughs as a sinister screech, a horrid mix between agony and insanity, shatters the glass of their own window just as a dark silhouette passes alongside it. Margo's cries grew stronger as if she could sense the impending danger. A black gloved hand broke the residual pieces of glass in the window frame and with it a hand entered: the skin was dark and cadaveric and the cloth of his sleeve dark brown in color. And the more it stretched as the figure entered the room the yellow emblem stitched on its upper arm just beneath the curve of the shoulder came forth: We are on a mission from God.

The face that then peered through the broken frame was twisted in a snarl while the creature's eyes were a hybrid grey and devoid of any light, emotion or life. The face of a once proud soldier was now utterly unrecognizable.

"No.." Integra whispers in disbelief at the sight unable to tear her eyes away from the ghoul. A figment of the past flashed through her mind once the ghoul dressed in a Hellsing uniform was full in view. The day had been one of the worst ones in her history as leader of the Hellsing organization: the day the Valentine brother attacked and Seras viciously tore into them without a hint of self restrain and control. She tore through the many bodies over and over again without mercy spilling their blood upon the walls seeing only red.

"As I said the ghouls are not mine, but the soldiers were definitely yours. After all they did require a place after their rather abrupt dismissal from your employment." With a wave of his hand the ghoul was dead long before he got a chance to fully step through the window, his body turning to ash. Behind him the silhouettes of many more undead prowled along the balcony linked to the window, groaning and grunting ready to break everything in their path. "It was quick I assure, violent but quick." At the same moment the same screeching sound reverberated behind the closed door of the room before the door handle was viciously ripped off and the door shook violently, splinter flying everywhere.

"I do hope there's no one else here beside you otherwise it will be quite a mess. There are so many of them I lost track when they passed 50." His gaze honed in that of the white haired vampire. "Or is there?"

He barely got the words out when Seras's body immediately vanished in a trail of inky blast mist leaving the two alone. Despite the danger and the frail human life left alone to fend for itself against an immortal one far superior, the draculina left without blinking once. It didn't matter that he saw and it didn't matter what either of them though or would come to think because of it…he was all that mattered. The screaming behind the door intensified, the grunts and groans, furniture being ripped and smashed apart.

"How predictable…." He purrs vanishing into this air only to reaper of the shadow directly in front of the knight forcing a shiver down her spine. "You know you were right to be cautious about me, but I wound advise more caution now…with her. Blood of her blood Sir Hellsing. You never know what she might do next now that she's lost her mind." He chuckles and his gaze then drops to the small infant. He reaches for her with his left hand taking hold of the loose edge of the lavender colored blanket between his index and middle finger; the fabric was soft to the touch. "The maddening darkness in ones heritage. You should take hid. She might just come after you." He whispers and his fingers move upward. He's about to touch her left hand and then the baby when Seras bursts though the door breaking it in half, ripping of the hinges, and forcing him to back up a step. The two vampires shared one brief glance before she attacked. Unfortunately, he quickly avoided them fading and reappearing each time she struck in order to avoid each blow. The altercation lasted no more than 1-2 minutes before both stopped at the same time.

"As amusing as this may be, I have other engagements tonight." Quickly moving towards the broken window he uses his powers to rip through the wall and the ghouls littering behind it. "As such," he pauses while offering a big grin and bringing his left hand up to his face as a pair of dark sunglasses appears between his index and middle finger. He easily slides them over the bridge of his nose. "Till then my lady Hellsing and do enjoy my gift for you tonight." With those final words his body dematerializes from existence leaving only his laughter and the sound of new oncoming ghouls behind. Margo's cries intensified tenfold, the child inconsolable despite her mother quick attempt at soothing her.

"Seras." Integra calls the draculina's name just as the room floor rumbles beneath her feet almost causing her to fall on her knees. as the entire room trembles violently as if subjected to a major earthquake. New ghouls hovered outside of the window and began entering through the large opening.

"Go with him." Seras tells her placing herself in front of the incoming ghoul. She gestures with her head towards the ripped door and when the knight follows her gaze, finally tearing it away from the undead creatures, she find a young boy with ebony black hair, black pants and white shirt standing there with his left hand placed on the ruined door frame. He's barefoot and his hair somewhat mess and some bruising still lingered marring his face.

"Alu.…" she starts whispering, but stops realizing it might not be the right thing to say. The sole, _foreign_, form she knew him to have taken in the past was that of teenage girl with flowing long black hair and ironically white clothing during world war two, but never anything else. Especially not…_a human_…form; his human form to be more exact.

"The house is full of ghouls. Go." Seras tells them watching the ghouls enter, come closer. She allows her senses to flare and envelop the house…there were so many of them and more were coming. But most of all there was the presence of something else lingering in the air…something…that truly bothered her.

_Mad, mad, mad…..__**MAD**__…_

A very thin voice, a woman's voice, kept repeating the same thing over and over again hardly able to control itself or stop laughing while doing so. Upon hearing it Integra quickly did as told and cautionately moved towards the young raven haired boy. She rocked the child, but the unnatural laugher continued to bother her making her cry. It was then that the ceiling in the other room came crushing down on the on the piano and furniture filling the room in thick dust and debris and destroying everything. Shadows and blood then descended from above, the former as fine mist made from dry ice and the latter trickling down from the recently made hole. A figure rose in the middle of that chaos and dust and from it a long pale arm peered out quickly followed by a second and the dark blue fabric of a ripped long sleeved shirt. The rest of the figure did not move, but once the dust finally settled black tendrils appeared in its place encircling the creature before them. Shoulder long black hair in once beautiful curls which were now in utter disarray blocked the way making it impossible for anyone to see the female vampire's face. Her head hung forward almost lifeless, her clothes were dusty and dirt, stained with blood and ripped in several places making her look _truly_ mad. She was as still as a rock and could have passed for an eccentric statue had it not been for the unnerving laughter surrounding her; a laughter that gave off an immediate and imminent sense of dread and danger, a cold chill that did not fail to run down each one of their backs. Slowly the creature raised her head showing off her crimson irises. The twin orbs may have been red, but the color was dull and lifeless when compared to Seras's. What's more, they looked mad with the left twitching uncontrollably and her entire appearance screaming caution.

The woman chuckles, eyes rolling in the back of her head as her body sways while doing so as though she were drunk. Both her forearms had cuts on either side and the cuts themselves ran deep along the entire length of her limbs. The wounds were strangely symmetric and proportioned suggesting a self inflicted pattern. The stench of old and dried up blood accompanied her, but the scent that made her stand out as a vampire was off. She looked sick and her blood smelled tainted. And it was fragrance se recognized for it was the same scent she remembered from that night when she lost everything. It was the poisoned of…

"Seras." Integra calls her name with an utterly emotionless tone breaking her train of thought. Her head turn, blue meeting red. "Search and destroy." she commands with the deadliest of intent and utter lack of mercy. She no longer cared how many ghouls there were or where Lucy and the other female vampire had gone. She didn't even care if they were somewhere close or nearby. All she cared for was in her hands and there would be hell to pay should anything happen to her.

"Yes master." Seras's left arm extends and morphs into a black swirling mass ready to strike if need be. And the timing couldn't have come at a more precise moment considering not a second passed before a bloody hand gripped her throat tightly squeezing so hard nail pierced her flesh and fingers crush her larynx.

"Make them stop…" the female vampire hisses screaming in pain and anguish as the twitching of her left eye intensified. "The voices. I can hear…I can hear them. They're always speaking…Whispering!" she screams then suddenly starts laughing hysterically offering the draculina a chance to break free of the hold and stand her ground, though the latter doesn't take it. She stays where she is and doesn't even bother to raise a hand and make a grab for the vampire's wrist. Her grip was crushing her throat and yet she never moved.

"BE Silent!" the female suddenly screams without warning letting go of Seras's throat and backing up a few steps while grabbing hold of her head instead and scratching at her own face and scalp along her temples. One of the ghouls yet to be crushed was unfortunate enough to get to close after rising from the ground and debris and thus suffered a gruesome fate being quickly dismembered and turned into a pile of blood and ash spilled upon the nearest wall. "SILENCE!" she keeps on screaming while repeatedly hunching over and drawing more of her own blood which trickles down her face and fingers. "Silent, silent, silent!" she repeatedly stomps her left foot upon her newest victim's skull until her foot eventually cracked the floor unleashing both her fury and madness upon it screaming till her lungs gave out and a very long pause followed. Or at it least it would have, had the baby not started to cry truly frightened. Her scream was loud and high pitched and it only added fuel to the fire.

"All of you STOP!" despite the shouting she cont to laugh viciously and maddening and with blood running down her hands, face and forearms she looked sick and completely mad. Sound upon sound ravaged the ebony haired vampire's mind over and over always taking and never stopping until all the words and languages became an undecipherable mangled mess like scratching a blackboard with a fine, sharp needle. It grated on her mind as well as her sanity…whatever was left of it.

And then things got worse when a new voice was added to the mix.

/_Who are you?/_

Seras asks carefully entering the strange vampire's mind from a distance without any sort of trouble. Her tone of voice is soft and gentle, yet barely recognizable while lost in-between the rest. At any other time she would have hesitated in pursuing such a course of action, the mere sight of the female vampire inspiring noting but sadness and pity. She was nothing but a toy. A poor creature weak, undisciplined, mad and…in need of mercy. A pitiful cry for mercy. Yet even so she offered a small spark of interest to the draculina given the unusual condition she was in and the voices Seras could hear inside her head.

It was seeing her scream over and over that contradictory feelings rose up inside of the white haired vampire and the prospect of mercy became much more than a mere statement; it became appealing while standing in front such a poor, unfortunate and retched soul.

"Who are you?" She asks again and steps forward, but does so while keeping a close eye on the two behind her. Integra was finally managing to silence the baby while the ebony haired boy beside her briefly met her gaze. "Tell me." Seras demands only to receive mad and irrational laughter in return.

"Boom…" the vampire laughs loosing all self control. She lunges forward taking hold of the draculina's throat once more, swinging her to the side and crushing her body into that of the cradle breaking it and the wall in one clean swoop.

"Boom….boom…." the last pause is long and the look in her crimson eyes as she focuses her gaze on Seras turns evil and sinister. It's only then that she finally picks up on the other disturbing sound. It was so faint she let slip by; it came back with a vengeance. A sound never quite there and with all the ruckus and distraction easily ignored and forgotten.

_Bip…bip….bip…._

"Too late…" the sound of Nicolae's voice echoing through the house prequels the inevitable. The blipping sound grew faster and then turned into one single sound. Seras's crimson eyes fall on the blue eyed boy.

/Run…/ it is all she can hope to whisper. Her shadows reach out, but it was too late. There is a pause, a rush of air and glass shattering, then a sound booming and loud and finally fire setting everything ablaze.

A black tendril drills through her stomach forcing her to break eye contact just as the river of fire consumes everything.

One of the last ghouls to enter the house had carried a bomb beneath his clothing and the flames swallowed everything in their path propelled by the shockwave and the added amount of air allowed to enter the enclosed spade due to the collapsing wall near the front door where the ghoul had stood. The ceiling collapsed of the lower floor collapsed, smoke and debris filling whatever clear space remained, the furniture was carbonized, broken to pieces and finally scattered everywhere throughout the once comfy home. The surrounding walls caved in as well forcing the entire side of the house close to where the baby's room had been to collapse onto itself. Both Vlad's former room as well as piano disappeared and one of the walls of Integra's room fell as well.

The silence to follow was deafening. There was no sound whatsoever, not the tiniest pin dropping to the floor. Just silence.

Then…Margo's cries gradually fill the room in defiance until finally exploding in a violent screech as a strange and almost domelike shape shielding herself and her mother breaks apart dividing into many separate thin strands or wire that sparkle brilliantly in the residual flames littering the floor. Integra's legs give out under her from shock trembling uncontrollably as she slides down along the length of the wall she'd somehow, miraculously, found. Her upper body was hunched over that of the baby she desperately held onto and her lower back bruised from the sudden impact with the wall as firm hand had found her in the very last possible second and had thrown her not to gently against. Yet she was alive and it was all that mattered. She held onto the baby so tight her nails damaged her own skin as her arms were kept protectively wrapped across the tiny infant. She never even realized she was crying until the baby started kicking her arms and legs underneath the lavender blanket she was wrapped it.

Still unaware of everything else, Integra quickly pulled her knees up to her chest to prop the baby against them and rapidly starting to unwrap the blanket from around her in an almost frantic manner with trembling fingers and desperately searching hand and eyes fearing the worst.

"Stop…" she couldn't even hear the voice least of all recognize it. It was faint and distant, her ears still ringing from the intensity of the blast, which only served to fuel her desperation further. The child was so small, premature, and the sound could have damaged her irreparably. She saw her crying, tiny face all red and scrunched up, but she couldn't hear her. And it was driving her mad. She started sobbing undoing the caps on the clothes to get at her skin and see the damage she was expecting to see: blood coating her fingers and never stopping; the life dripping and draining from her baby leaving behind nothing but a cold shell and empty, lifeless corpse.

"Stop…stop!" the voice grew louder and louder until two pairs of strong hands took hold of her wrists. The soft fabric of black, fingerless gloves and cold metal from the rings at the base of each individual finger caressed her skin and the deeply resonating tone finally got her attention seeping through the continuous ringing inside her ears, prompting her to look up and away from her daughter.

"She's fine…" blue eyes stare back at her appearing almost violet in color from the lack of proper lighting in what remained of the room. Short strands of disheveled raven hair caress her face as the teen's head leans forward brushing his forehead against hers for a second before pulling back; hands squeeze hers and smiles while breathing deeply and searching her eyes. The crimson that smeared his hands got transferred onto hers while another trickle slowly made its way down the left side of his face from a deep cut obviously reopened during the struggle.

Her eyes were wide in wander while starring at the familiar face in front of her.

"It's alright." He whispers from his kneeled position in front of her and leaning in to kiss her forehead and then dropping his head to repeat the gesture with the tiny infant. "Walter…"she whispers back almost afraid to utter the words any louder than in fear of having it all fall apart.

"I'm here." He tells softly and the child's cries lessen calmed down by the sound of her father's voice.

Unfortunately, the tender moment was broken as the remainder of the ceiling cracked and the metal in the walls gave way from being far to damaged to support the weight of the remaining concrete. Walter reacts without delay turning around and summoning his wires ready to face whatever came next, but there was little he could do in the face of the floor moving around them and pillars of black ink seeping though it, breaking through. The entire front section of the house was destroyed leaving nothing but a mass of debris. The cold night air passed through fueling the few of the remaining flames left making them grow and glow brighter. There was no sign of either vampire or the raven haired boy.

Then laughter filled the room once again. The same psychotic laughter bordering on dementia as the vampire in question rose from a mass of debris litter the far corner of the floor with a violent scream then fell to her knees unable to stop laughing. Not even as she raised her head up high and brought her right hand in front of her face to studying the blood dripping from it did she stop. There was fresh blood all around her coating her clothes.

"Oh they stopped." She laughs. "The voices stopped…stopped…" she laughs maniacally throwing her head back.

Just then a shadow arm with long, clawed fingers pushes through her left shoulder pulling her back and bending her backwards until her body is forcefully contoured and her back crushed against a partial support beam sticking out of the mass of ruble. Seras emerges behind her, shadows parting, and her prince by her side. The latter falls to his knees not a moment later coughing violently in an attempt to dislodge the traces of soot and ash form his lungs. His clothing looked as though partially burned in some places, but other than that he was intact. It was most ash and dirt from the fallen house. Seras's shadows had protected him despite the sudden attack rendering her momentarily useless. A hole in her clothing remained where the fled had struck her in the abdomen, yet her clothing fared far less well. Her were truly burned and the skin of her forearms and right leg still healing from the severe burs caused while protecting her _human_ master.

"Seras!" Walter calls her name standing up in a similar fashion in front of his small family with wires at the ready despite his injured and bleeding fingers. The pressure placed upon his hands during the explosion had cut through his flesh deeply, but that wasn't about to stop him any time soon. The draculina, however, stops him with a small gesture of her left hand.

/Go./ she tells him easily finding his mind admits the rest. She would take care of it. Meanwhile the foreign vampire continued screaming and cursing as she struggled to free herself from her prison and eventually succeeded at the price of ripping her left arm off almost entirely. It barely hung onto the rest of her body.

"Who **are** you?" Seras questions again demanding answers. She steps forward never taking her eyes off her. She hears Walter move to kneel and help Integra and her own master stand back up again, but keep her attention focused of her foe.

"You," the dark haired creature curses, anger dripping of her words. Shadows rise form under her feet as she gets up chuckling crudely, but are put to rest long before they can become a threat. They're smothered by Seras's own powers as easily as putting out a small infant fire with the sole of ones boot. The latter eyes glow crimson and her left arm become shadows once more.

"Can't…can't kill me…"she manages to say between fits of laugher. "Can't, can't kill me. Master wouldn't like." The tone of her voice borders on hysteria and for a moment her very eyes tilt back, twitching and widening as though in wonder. "Master….master…master…" she sways on her feet left, right, left…right with no true sense of direction as though heavily drunk while repeating the same word over and over in different tones. Then, for but a moment, she stops in her tracks facing them all sideway from the left. Her head tilts backwards and partially to the left until her unnatural red irises stop to stare at the small family behind the white haired vampire.

"Blood…" the word is barely whispered and passed her lips when a wave of wires defensively appears in front of her scratching the ground half a foot from her position and even a stray lock of her black color hair cutting it in two. The massage was clear, but the fledgling vampire merely smirked unimpressed and then disappeared completely ready to attack them.

"No!" Integra screams ducking behind Walter and hugging the baby to her chest to protect it, yet the attack never reaches her. The wires hold her back. The cut in deep completely encircling her torso and right arm especially as the latter would have reached the middle of the angels' chest, the tips of her fingers barely a few cm apart. They wrapped themselves like coils of rope around her body from head to toe faster than she had a chance to move holding her prisoner and making her bleed into the makeshift, staining the dust covered floor red. And each and every time she tried to move regardless of how tiny the movement of her muscles was the wires tightened around her dissecting her flesh a little bit more. Then, as she dared to jerk forward towards his daughter, the coils tightened tenfold around her right arm cutting through flesh and bone alike without meeting a hint of resistance savagely detaching the limb from her body and the shredding it to pieces till there almost nothing left to fall to the floor between them. The wires uncoiled flooding the space around them in blood and ripped flesh and bone, the liquid splattering all over even his clothing, over his chest and right cheek. Yet not one drop was allowed to come anywhere near his woman or child. "Miss Richford." Walter slyly speaks her name in greeting both mocking and punishing her actions through that one simple gesture. She should have never have dared to touch.

The formerly know Miss Adele Richford screams in agony and has no chance to retaliate while being brutally pulled back by Seras who took the opportunity to grab hold of her still injured left shoulder while Walter had been busy chopping of her dominant limb. She pulled ripping the socket and then threw the hemorrhaging fledgling into the open area that had once been the piano room. Her back collides with a section of remaining wall breaking it.

"Leave here." Seras tells Walter briefly meeting his gaze before quickly walking in the direction she'd thrown her opponent. "And take them with you."

"You!" Adele shrieks hissing and growling at the white haired draculina while recovering and getting to her feet with tremendous effort. Her injured limbs, torso, legs...everything essentially refused to heal properly. She could not do it. She's unable to sustain the change needed in order to regenerate and thus falls to her knees a bloody mess while attempting to take that one step forward passed the hole in the wall.

"Master did not make you." Seras boldly tells her summoning a piece of charred wood from a pile of debris nearby to her right hand and then breaking it so that the tip became very sharp and pointy and the simple piece of wood turns into a very effective stake. "He doesn't make things like you." And whoever did would get to know her wrath soon enough.

The fledgling screams in anger readying herself for the attack: to jump and tear into the silver haired vampire's throat with her bare teeth and then rip it open. Yet, just as she was about to release all that tension accumulated in her muscles and move into a much better position, the sound of a cocking gun echoed loudly in the aftermath of her own scream drowning all other sounds.

"No, he doesn't." The prince quietly says despite the harsh, serious and emotionless his tone; no mercy. The half formed Casull in his right hand emerged from the mass of darkness swirling in his open palm and his fingers closed around its handle pulling the trigger back. The very last bullet in the barrel ripped thought he air echoing louder and anything that night as it hit its target without delay: the fledgling's chest and a shot meant directly to the heart.

"Ahh!" the scream to follow though, was not hers but his as the heavy weight of the gun and the force of the shot recoiled pushing the heavy metal object back against his arm crushing his wrist in the process. Holding it up had been difficult enough given his 'form' and thus firing it could have only one unwelcome side effect: a target missed and a bone irreparably shattered. Not only had the weight impaired his line of sight and the bullet to miss by mere mm or two alone, but break his wrist as well and all of it in a matter of a few seconds and nothing more. Still, the bullet did pierce the fledglings' chest ripping through a good portion of her sternum, ribs and right lung.

Vlad drops to the floor grunting in pain and cradling his broken wrist to his chest, legs tucked in underneath him and upper body hunched over with his forehead touching the floor. He's unable to move a muscle much les feel anything other than the literal bone shattering pain tearing through his entire body.

"No!" Seras shouts, eyes turning almost black and loosing themselves to the anger rising up inside her chest. Her left arm shifts completely and violently like a wild sea entirely forgetting about the chosen weapon in her other hand. The stake was no longer an option; it was too good a death and too great a mercy.

The lengthening limb touches the ground splitting into several tendrils that spread like wildfire along the remains of the floor and walls. The temperature drops severally as almost all light is removed form the premises; the night seemed far brighter than the darkness she was inducing. "I will end you." Her voice took on a dual, eerie, angry and dangerous tone while locking eyes with the still bleeding dark haired vampire. She in turn is far to gone to comprehend the actual beast now standing in front of her. Instead she starts to laugh once again. Though she's chocking on her own blood she's laughing; her mind devoid of any though whatsoever.

"Perhaps you will." Nicolae speaks up for the first time since disappearing so _abruptly_ before the entire House went to hell. He stood in the very place of the once broken window in Integra's former room, his back leaning most casually against the a remaining beam of wall and a crooked smile on his lips and lit cigar threatening to fall form them. "But not tonight."

He barely gets the words out when a portal forms beneath the young vampire swallowing her whole. A second, much smaller one, appears right after that directly in front of his own right foot.

"Oh and I do hope you have no plans in staying here any longer. Not with all that gunpowder and dynamite safely stored beneath your feet, I mean. But if you do," His gaze lowers in most mischievous fashion gleaming with amusement at the utter look of mistrust and disbelief on their faces as he took a deep breath of his cigar and then blew the smoke from his dead lungs.

"All you need is a spark." Hot ash falls to the floor and through the portal he's created as he then takes hold of the cigar between his right index and thumb and flicks it somewhere to his right into a third awaiting portal. The falling ash illuminated the path of the portal all the way down to the steal box holding housing all of the dynamite.

"Enjoy." His laughter fades as one with his body; as one with the igniting powder.

.

.

.

Nothing remained of the once beautiful architecture except for the hole of its foundation and the scattered remains of its body littering the charred snow all around. Somewhere in the distance, as smoke rose in row after row from the house, Nicolae kept on watching the scene until the smoke slowly started to clear blown away by the cold winter wind and his cigar gave off its last breath.

The smirk continued to grace his lips. He never saw anyone leave and yet he could feel a lingering presence in the air.

For he knew far too well that it would take so much more than a feeble attempt at death to get rid those two bloodlines.

.

To be continued….

Till next time.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 23**

New chapter's up, hope you enjoy it. It's little shorter, but I plan on making the next one longer.

I also won't be posting once a week any longer since I started my new job this week, I won't have as much time. I'll be posting once a month from now on, maybe twice a month.

Chapter 23

_Thud…thud….thud…._

"I'm coming, I'm coming." A male voice spoke from the darkness as the pounding sound on the door continued relentlessly. The tree pair of legs, two of flesh and one of wood, slowly moved around the furniture. One wrinkled hand held the curbed end of his dark brown cane while the other glided along the wooden surface of the a cabinet until it found the light switch tuning it on and illuminating a small kitchen which held several dark colored cupboards, a stove, sink and square table with 4 chairs in one of the corners and was connected to the adjacent living room by a door sized archway. Passing the table the man, an elder priest with short grey hair and gentle dark eyes like that of a grandfather, slowly made his way across the kitchen with the aid of his cane. He sighs finally reaching the door handle and noticing that the knocking hadn't eased up at all. "Youth these days, never any patience." He mumbles to himself unlocking the door and removing the safety chain before pulling the door open. He barely manages to accomplish the task when he's forced to back up a few steps to the side. Walter walks in without a word while carrying Integra and the baby in his arms. He passed the priest heading directly for the living room.

"I need your help father." The youth's voice echoes through the kitchen as he does so

"Clearly." He replies just about to close the door behind the teen when a slender hand pushed against the door keeping it open and a set of intense crimson eyes met his gaze startling him briefly. The woman passed him not a moment later, her arms wrapped around the shoulders of a raven haired boy helping him in. "And you brought a vampire. In my church no less." He adds closing the door once they too cleared it. Just then the boy stumbles placing his left hand on one of the counters and the priest's immediate reaction was to reach out and help only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the murderous look within Seras's left eye as she peered over her left shoulder as though daring him to try.

"She's docile Paddy." Walter tells him, though the sound of his voice is once again disturbed by Margo's cries.

"I can see that." He whispers watching as the vampire in question helps the boy take a seat on one of the chairs instead of walking him into the living room as well. Paddy then passes them still feeling the coldness of her stair upon his back until he's well into the other room and heading towards the couch. The room itself wasn't fairly large. Exiting from the kitchen Walter walked over to the couch located directly opposite of the archway and leaning against the wall to the left. An armchair stood directly opposite of the archway and to the left of it was a small television set on a small wooden dresser. Between the couch, chair and tv was a glass coffee table with a book and half filled coffee cup sitting on top of it. A stairway was to the left of the archway and close to the back of the living room.

"Shh, don't cry." Walter coos softly caressing the infant's head with his right hand. Yet the baby continued to cry and kick her arm and legs while in her mother's embrace. She hadn't stopped since the destruction of the apartment.

"She's damaged…" Integra almost sobs looking at her red face and tearful cheeks, hands still going over her tiny body and grasping her small hands. "What if…"

"She's fine." He reassures looking up into her eyes as the sound of Paddy's cane got louder the closer he got. "Just scared I promise."

"How the hell can she be alright?" Integra suddenly screams shouting the words into his face in anger. "Look at her!"

"I am." And still he remains calm placing his own hands around her squeezing them softly. "She's just scared. And it won't help if you're like this. Trust me."

"_I can't…" _She hasn't the strength to utter the words any louder and she almost pulls her hands from his grasp completely when he stops her.

"Trust me." He tells her again while deeply gazing into her eyes; he was making it increasingly difficult to look away. Time passes agonizingly slow, almost like eternity, until the slightest nod lifts his spirit before the woman's head drops with a sob. Her shoulders tremble and grip harden like steel around his hands leaving the baby behind as not to hurt her. "I'll take care of it." His voice is calm and gentle and his lips briefly brush up against her left temple before turning his attention from her for a second.

"I need the supplies Paddy." He questions the priest about them while quickly standing back up.

"Upstairs in your room, but I…." Paddy replies without getting to say much of anything else as the teen swiftly walked straight passed him heading for the stairway.

"We did not agree on this vampire." He calls over his shoulder to the sound of the boy's retracting footsteps and form. He was already up on the second floor landing and out of sight.

"It can wait." Walter's voice echoes from the top of the hall along with the sound of a door opening and then closing.

"You won't get an answer." Integra tells him with a smile wiping her tears with the back of her left hand. She then unwraps the blanket from around the baby and takes her in her arms cradling her to her chest. "At least not a straight one. He tends to do that." She starts to rock the infant kissing the top of her head and hoping to make her stop crying.

"Don't I know." The priest agrees finally reaching the couch and sitting down to her right, cane between his legs and both of his hand placed on top of the curbed head.

"But I am well aware of Hellsing's reputation of said vampire. And **he** isn't **her**."

"Really?" Integra question's offering him a single glance before returning the majority of her attention to the small infant. "Shh, it's alright." She coos trying to soothe her daughter, but the latter remains undeterred still crying though not as loud and distressed as before. "Please stop crying."

"Hold her against your chest not your arms. She'll settle faster."

"My chest?"

"Just turn her around and hold her directly." He explains reaching out and helping her position the baby against the right side of her chest, Margo's head and left arm dropping onto her right shoulder while the left grabbed hold of her blouse and her crying all but stopped. The young mother smiles brightly at her accomplishment cradling the baby's back with her right hand and the back of her head with the left.

"Patience and practice." He softly tells her offering a few kind words of wisdom. "There is time for you to learn. The best way to settle her is to offer her your heart. It's instinctual."

A few moments more and Margo stopped crying and whimpering all together.

"Thank you." She thanks him stroking the baby's head and black hair.

"Of course." He smiles kindly in a reply of his own. "But if I may a question," she subtly nods in the direction of the kitchen without fully turning his head around.

"This one is no more than a child herself."

"So why her?" Integra finishes for him knowing what he was referring to without having to hear the entire statement. It hardly took a genius to figure out the direction of that particular phrasing. "It's complicated." She pauses adjusting the baby a little as the latter buries her tiny head in the crook of her neck a little further. "Shh…" she coos and the silence is truly beautiful. Patience truly seemed to be the key; that a calm soul to steady the restless. "Her command is her master's alone in both obedience and allegiance. It is only her lingering _humanity_ that accepts us."

"She is giving the boy blood." He calmly states taking a deep breath.

"She's not as irresponsible a…._**what**_?" the calm and collected expression on Integra's face disappeared completely as she turns her head back to the priest. The latter says nothing more, but he does nod once more so that her gaze, now falling onto the kitchen, falls on the two. He was right….a tiny crimson rivulet smeared the raven haired boy's chin.

"You shouldn't have done that." Seras whispers as quietly as possible once the priest left the kitchen moving at what seemed to be a snails pace. After pulling one chair from under the table for her master to sit on she kneels in front of him and gently pries his injured hand from his chest as he held it there protectively. "You're _human_."

"_Pretending_ to be human." He replies sketching a smile and allowing her to move his hand despite the pain it brinks and settle it on his right knee. The wrist was badly damaged and he's unable to hold back the grimace as she applies gentle pressure upon it while both moving it as well as undoing the cuff of the shirt and rolling it up. It was bruised, badly broken and swollen from the underlining hematoma.

"Human." She utters lowering her voice a fraction making it seem as though she was upset with him for slightly bending the truth. Her fingers encircle his wrist at the same time feeling the bones crepitate beneath. "I should think the left would have been enough." Despite her scolding tone her eyes were soft and held genuine concern as she brought her own right hand up to her mouth and bit hard into her wrist drawing blood.

"You **will** drink." She places her finger against his lips accepting no refusal. Her eyes burned with determination holding him prisoner; he would not win the argument.

"What?" both of them mildly heard the surprise tone in Integra's voice and felt the heat of her gaze lingering over their shoulders like a heavy burden.

"Seras don't you dare." She tells them with farm more conviction, but it's too late. Too little, too late.

The taste was heavenly, liquid ecstasy dripping down his throat the more he sucked on her finger lapping up each and every drop of blood he could coax out of the small, yet deep puncture wounds.

"Relax…" she softly breathes into his right ear and his body immediately complies, the muscles relaxing as though he were floating on the sound of her voice alone. His wrist prickled as if stung by a bee at the feel of her other hand slowly encasing it mindful of the swelling and crepitating bones. She then withdraws her barely bleeding wrist from his mouth brushing the pad of her thumb softly over his bottom lip before squeezing his wrist tightly and encasing it in shadowlike. The whole ordeal only took a few seconds before his head dropped onto her right should with a suppressed groan and long exhale through the nose. Seras then pulls her hand back slowly tracing the pads of her fingers over his bandaged wrist and reopening fist. Afterwards she helps support his shoulders with both hands until he regains his bearings and raises his head on his own. His eyes were somewhat glazed over and heavily lidded as though just having woken from a dream. And in a sense he did, his body so utterly relaxed and under the spell of the blood that it took a bit to wake back up again.

"I think I may presume she just did." She hears the priest announce her deed to Integra just as the sound of footsteps moving along the small hallway of the upper floor start to echo.

"You should mind your business _priest_." She provocatively raises her voice emphasizing the word priest as though in anger. He was downsizing her efforts and genuine concern and desire to help her master.

"Seras…" Integra calls her name with a hint of annoyance and also motherly tone somewhat both scolding her and telling to stoop in that one word.

"He shot the Casull." Seras gets to her feet stepping aside and turning around to face the two. "No amount of reconstruction would have saved his hand." She eyes the priest, eyes narrowing while doing. "Or make it function."

"Be that as it may, I would prefer you not give a mere child blood." Paddy replies both playing with fire as well as meeting her gaze without a hint of intimidation from the condescending look she was giving him. "This is still my church and I would appreciate you abiding by the rules. And that means no blood in here." The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut with a sword.

"Then how about I paint the snow outside _red_ in **yours**?" Seras venomously hisses almost growling the words, eyes starting to blaze a brilliant dark red tempting to switch to black. Her voice echoes loudly and her entire body tenses in preparation ready to strike; her shadow lengthens beneath her boots and the lights began to dim and flicker. "I'll make it quick."

"Seras please…" Integra attempts to intervene with little luck at actually succeeding.

"Stay out of it!" the draculina's voice is beyond angry. She inadvertently stops her foot on the ground releasing her shadows which violently burst around her in the shape of several tendrils whipping the floor and encasing the walls as it moved upward along their surface. The force of her words and the thumping sound her boot makes hitting the floor scare Margo who starts whimpering despite just having settled down.

"Do not threaten me in my own h…"

"What's going on?" Walter asks cutting through the tension while descending down the stairs bag in hand. He'd been gone but a few minutes and returned to utter chaos and criminal intent, the calm before the storm, by the looks the three adults were giving them. The baby was restless, it's mother attempting to calm her all the while giving the vampire a hard and unyielding look and all three adults o the verge of jumping at their throats.

"Nothing." Seras utters as she breaks eye contact unwilling to submit that easily to the damned priest before her. Besides who said anything about letting any of them know anything more about future blood exchange. And though her tone was dominant and her will unyielding she only gave in because Vlad gently took hold of her hand behind her back squeezing lightly and leaned his forehead against her lower back just as the madness threatened to take over. So in the end, it all came down to her loyalty to her master and not a mere human regardless of who they were.

"She stays **down** here." _She_ being the vampire of course. For however imposing she might be, the old priest too was not to be taken lightly. And he would have his way even if only in part. Seras stops talking with ease, but it's far harder to keep the growl from passing her lips and her hands from entwining the boy's to the point of breaking bone. Her fingers twitch carefully against them knowing not to push to hard, yet the color in her irises continued to remain dark.

"I'll take him up." Walter quickly interjects before things could escalate any further. He places the small bag down on the floor next to the armchair before taking Seras's place in supporting the boy and helping him up the stairs. His room would be the only other bedroom in the small parish, situated to the left of the top of the stairs opposite of his own.

"Wait." Integra speaks up adjusting Margo against her chest, standing up and retrieving the small bag. Afterwards she said nothing more and quietly walked around the furniture to join them. Her child's welfare was far more important that sitting though whatever conversation a priest and a vampire might have together.

"To the left." Walter kindly tells her as he takes the bag back form her and then watches her pass him and climb the stairs heading towards their room. He then followed helping the young prince along.

This left the priest and the vampire alone with the sound of retreating footsteps not far behind.

"Your distain for me is hardly surprising, but one would assume a priest far les bigot than that _Father_."

"People fear what they do no trust and that trust often leads down regrettable paths. To that I ad the fact that my last encounter with one of your kind was less than pleasing." He then paused raising his right hand and pulling aside the collar of his clothing revealing a disfiguration; scar a few cm in both length and width. "Not pleasant at all." He adds. "So I have made it a personal interest of maintaining a fair distance from them ever since. Preserving ones own life is not bigotry young one."

"Why would I ever want to bite you much less be near or _touch_ you?" Seras question with distain dripping from her words crossing her arms under her chest and gripping her own forearm to prevent herself from lashing out. Her nails dug in deep through the crimson shirt she wore.

"I wouldn't not." He chuckles relaxing for the first time in her presence. "But it would have been interesting to see. Vampires are curious creatures with rather _curios_ habits." He pauses adjusting the cane in front of him a little. "Then again so are many humans I've met over the ears. Perhaps even more curious." His chuckle turns into genuine laughter that somewhat confuses the draculina as she continues to stare at him. "Which leads me to question why? Tell me why choose the boy?"

"Who says I've chosen him?" She questions in return annoyed to see him still smiling like a fool at her. Not to mention his sudden interest in her master didn't make it any easier.

"Because you gave him blood."

"Because he's _mine_." She eventually confesses tired of this ridiculous interrogation, but she does it with a firm voice and a mischievous glint in both her eyes and lips which subtly curl upward. Might as well unnerve him further with a _version_ of the truth. Therefore, she didn't even hesitate to utter the words and when her eyes landed on the man's face the statement seemed all the more powerful.

"Why is that?" he asks coming out of the shocked expression that very statement induced. She'd caught him off guard, but that didn't mean it could happen a second time. The tone he uses is calm and collective.

"Why would my answer matter?" She counters with yet another question of her own.

"Because I have _curious_ habits too." He smiles rather playfully as though he were less than twice his age. "I have met a few vampires over the years, knowing Hellsing as I do and Walter especially, and few of them of tend to concern themselves with the well being of mere humans. Of course we as living creatures tend to show mild concern. We raise and nurture our needs to our own benefit and preference only to later slaughter it all at our pleasure. But that being said sounds rather unpleasing, doesn't it?"

"He's not my food." The certainty of her words left no room for argument, error or doubt.

"No, he's not." Paddy surprisingly agrees with her moving to take a seat once more and distribute his weight upon the came while doing so. "You display far too much _affection_ for something so base and common, both to that child and the others. And for someone in my line of work that is quite easy to see."

"He's mine." Seras repeats without breaking eye contact.

"But they are not, are they?" the corners of his mouth subtly curls upward in a statement he knew she could not deny. "Still the child is but a _child_ and…"

"And I will live on forever." Seras smiles a sarcastic smile and doesn't let him finish making her point as well as his own line of thought more than evident in just one sentence. The short silence to follow was gratifying offering him a chance to ponder his next question. "And your _thoughts_ do not concern me." She makes sure to emphasize said word to avoid further inquiries on the subject. The mere thought of it was insulting.

"Why?" he ask with genuine interest searching her face for answers that would not come from mere words alone.

"It was a beautiful night." Seras replies, her words her master. She smiles and her fangs glisten in the light of the living room.

"What was?" he asks intrigued by the complexity of her answer. She wasn't being straight forward, but wasn't denying him answers at the same time. "I have always wondered how defined the line between living, dead and undead truly is. To live without a heart, yet yearn for one nonetheless is…."

"No Father." Seras interrupts him. "Neither vampires nor humans desire a heart. It is nonsense and childish, empty vessels waiting to be filled. All of us and none of us."

"What is your purpose vampire?"

Silence descended between them, heavy, stale and thick. And when she finally did answer it sent a cold chill down his back.

"The blood." She chuckles slightly tilting her head to the right. "Is rich and strong. Not something for mere priest to understand."

"You speak with passion."

"I desire passion." She corrects him almost ready to add a little more fuel on the fire. However, she instead takes the small moment to further intrigue him with a far different road of thought. One she didn't truly plan on answering to. "Besides why think _I_ _**chose**_ him?"

"What?" Paddy can't help but ask in return completely taken aback by that reply. Seras only chuckles in return; a rather condescending glint in her sparkling crimson eyes that spoke of her success and his failure.

"Why speak to the dead father? We do not respond." She mocks him before her body fades into nothingness leaving the paddy alone with the now cold cup of coffee lying on the table.

"The _living_ are not this interesting." Paddy whispers to himself deciding to make himself another pot of coffee and continue reading his book. The night was still young and he had a gut feeling more would be to come to pass before it ended.

.

.

With the door shut behind him and all the tension left behind Walter leaned back against the door for a moment watching as Integra paced around the room in front of the bed cradling her daughter, their daughter, lovingly to her chest, rubbing her back in short up and down strokes. Margo's head rested on her left shoulder, her left hand holding onto a small crease of her shirt and the right hanging over her mother's shoulder. She was fast asleep and it was for the first time that he finally had the time to look at his little girl. Her skin was a shade paler than her mothers, the scuff of hair on her head was black like his and though her eyes were closed, he distinctly remembered the blue color starring up at him the moment she had cried so afraid after the explosion. They'd been beautiful.

"What's her name?" he softly ask, Integra's back turned to him as she heads for the crib placed by the bed. It wasn't very new, more of a vintage piece like the rest of the furniture all around them, but the bedding was soft and would keep her warm. The sound of his voice takes Integra by surprise; she hadn't even heard the door close behind him. Thus she hesitates for a second before smiling, turning her head to the right to look at him and answering. "Margo." The name is softly spoken with love and pride as she cradles the baby's head.

"You never wanted to name the baby." He says pushing against the door with his shoulders and walking forward.

"Just to your face." Integra whispers lowering her tone, some of the joy fading.

"Still punishing me." He whispers back placing his right hand on top of hers over the baby's head.

"Anger felt better." She replies stepping back and turning around, breaking his hold on Margo; pushing him away.

"Even now?" he keeps his voice down and makes no other move letting her place the baby in the crib and cover her with a baby blue blanket.

"No." she pauses. "Not now." Her hands settle on the bar of the crib, her eyes still focused on her baby.

Another moment passes before Integra feels the soft touch of his gloved hand, the coldness of the metal rings, his fingers treading though her short and uneven hair. "She cut your hair." He whispers letting the rebel strands seep through his fingers.

"It will grow back." She replies. His left arm wraps itself around her waist pulling her back, molding her back to his chest. He nuzzles the right side of her throat affectionately tightening his grip. The last time he'd done it her womb had been swelling with their yet unborn child, the baby kicking at his hand from within. Now there was nothing, it was empty and flat.

"I failed you my Lady." His forehead drops onto her shoulder with a deep sigh of self loathing and disappointment. He had failed to protect her.

"Not for the first time. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. It's time you met God." She tells him holding nothing of her repressed anger in check any longer. She can feel his body tensing behind her in response to her words and the smile does not fail to grace her lips; his reaction does not disappoint.

"For the last." He promises, the tone of his voice so deep and hard it left absolutely no room for lies or deceit. The memory of her platinum hair falling from Henkel's fingers flashes through his mind. His hand races the shape of her abdomen while the other rises to settle atop her hip.

"You stand empty." He whispers.

"I do." Integra agrees bringing her own hand up, entangling their fingers together.

"_She_ was always my intent." Walter confesses finally revealing and admitting the truth. Yet instead of being angry Integra smiles genuinely amused. "I know." She'd already known, she'd know all along. She turns her head to face him, the smile still gracing her lips beautifully. "As she was mine."

"Such cruel beauty my lady." He chuckles and his lips curl against the soft skin of her throat. They moved upward tracing its elegant column, his breath hot and soothing the moist skin he was leaving behind.

"She said you died." She tells him. "The vampire who took me in. She said they cut your wings."

"Almost." He acknowledges the statement pulling back just enough to turn her around in his embrace. He leans in briefly touching her lips with his before whispering. "Heinkel tore them off."

And with those words the smile fades from Integra's lips and her expression turns confused.

"What?" Yet she says no more as his lips come crashing down on hers in a passionate kiss. He'd forgotten her taste and the previous sample was simply too little to be enough.

"Stop…sto..stop…" she pleads between kisses pushing with her hands against his strong shoulders trying to stop him. In the end she has to take hold of his face on both sides and push him away. "Tell me!" she raises her tone to emphasize her point, but still keeps it low enough as not to wake Margo.

"What is there to say?" he says dropping his head with a sigh so that his forehead touches hers.

"Don't lie to me again." It only takes a few small words for the hardened commander of a fearless organization to turn into a normal girl scared and concern about the one she _loves_. And it that moment there she wasn't ashamed to show it, not anymore. Death had been at her door and his one too many times for her to ignore it still. She'd already silently cried with her baby in her arms not knowing what had happened to him. She sees the reluctance and light amusement fade from the teens blue eyes as his face turns serious for just a second before he adverts his sight and turns his head away.

"They did not fit with me anyways." He tells her choosing to look at the distant wall to his left instead of her. His gaze is blank and void of emotion as though trying to repress that certain memory. The truth however, was that he'd grown accustomed to his wings. The angel of death could not freely use that name in all its meaning. The black feathers had glistened in the moonlight while seeking his prey, a soldier of Hellsing once more the angel and the twin vampire demons. And now he stands bare of that title with no secret to hide under his shirt any longer.

"You lie." Integra hotly whispers into his right ear, her warm breath caressing his skin. She plants a small kiss on the underside of his jaw allowing her arms to wrap themselves around his shoulders and her hands to cradle his hair, her fingers loosing themselves in the short black strands.

"Am I?" he asks feeling her left hand descend own his injured back. At first there's nothing to fear, but once her fingers trace the shape of his broken wings over his shoulder blades he can't help but tense in her arm and hiss at the contact; the fabric was damp beneath her fingers, damp and red in blood.

"To tear isn't to rip Walter. It's what she did, isn't it?"

"Would it make a difference?"

Integra smiles. "It would be reason to pity you instead of hating you."

"Such kindness milady." Walter chuckles burring his face deeper into the crook of her neck.

"Undress." She demands gripping his shirt just over the wounds she can feel beneath.

"If you insist." He laughs with a mischievous look within his blues eyes as she lifts his head to meet her gaze. Yet all that fades when her right hand hits the back of his head making him come back down to earth.

"Now Walter." Her voice hardens, eyes fazing into his deeply.

With a sigh the angel concedes defeat. He unwraps his arms from around her, takes a step back and begins unbuttoning his shirt. White bandages stained in blood come forth, the fabric marred red over his chest, yet it's only when he turns around that the true extent of his injuries comes forth. The wrappings over his upper and middle back are dark red.

"I may have broken my stitches." He tells her without much concern for the sting and pain his movement creates. His shirt hangs of his bent elbows as he turns his head to look over his right shoulder at her.

"You stubborn fool." She chuckles. Nothing had changed. The reckless, death defying boy she'd hear of while growing up was standing before her proudly showing off possibly life threatening wounds without a second through or a pinch of self concern. And without a second though of her own Integra pulls the shirt off his completely and starts unwrapping the first layer of bandages. Each one was stained until she finally reached the last and she gently removed the dressing exposing his wounds. There were two large diagonal cuts and a few smaller ones next to them over each shoulder blade as the doctors had struggled to remove the remaining stump on the left and close the large wound on the right where Heinkel had taken her time to amputate the wings leaving a deep wound. Most of the stitches on the left were intact, but those on the right weren't in as good a shape.

"I don't think they'll grow back this time." He confesses giving voice to both their thoughts. It was a statement more than fair and obvious when looking at the evidence, the scars, left behind.

"You need new stitches." She softly says placing her right hand over his right shoulder.

"You and the baby were more important." For in the head of battle nothing had been as important. Pain had ripped through his back while holding up the barrier to shield them from the explosion, but he'd ignored it and pushed passed it. "And I have redeemed myself through my own blood milady."

Integra sighs despite the tiniest of smiles gracing her lips. "I don't know whose worse anymore. You or my pet vampires."

"Why should they be your favorite monsters?" the blue of his irises darkens as he looks her in the eyes, lips curling into a playful grin.

"I did not say they were." She tells him molding herself to his back in a moment of weakness ignoring the blood and the open wounds. Her arms tighten around his middle and she buries her nose into the crook of his neck. "You presume too little my angel."

"You should teach me then my master." He playfully says unable to hide his grin.

"Hah." Integra laughs letting her arms drop and stepping back. "Ruin it Walter." The grin immediately falters and the angles expression turns serious. Her warm hands leave his body swiftly and abruptly, the cold a cruel wakeup call.

"What?" he barely has the time to ask before his own shirt is thrown in his face rather angrily.

"You can dress yourself, you are capable of that my angel. Aren't you?"

"You wound me deeply my Lady." He mocks placing his left hand over his heart, slightly grimacing as he inadvertently pulls another loose stitch.

"My monsters are far less ignorant Walter." She scolds him watching as his right eyes twitches at the sudden and unexpected sting of having lost yet another stitch. At least her vampires instantly healed from their own stupidity. It was too pitiful not to feel sorry for him and not be slightly found amusing as morbid as it may sound. Still, it was a way of life she'd gotten more than used to.

"Lie down Walter before you pop another one." She sighs walking back to him.

"If you insist my l…" she doesn't let him finish, neither the words nor the grin that once again threatens to grace his lips, and instead simply pushes him backwards on the bed with her hands. And considering he didn't see it coming he falls like a long pulling yet another stitch.

"Shit." He curses gripping the sheet beneath him for that one moment it takes him to conquer the pain.

"Now, now my angel." The knight smiles a devilish smile that immediately catches his attention once she leans in to hover over him, her left knee by his left side. "A monster would not let such insignificant pain stop him." And just like that the smile on her face fades, her expression becoming more than hard and serious. "Suck it up."

"My mistress is cruel beyond words." He jokes with a smile pushing himself up on his elbows. The sheet beneath his back bares the mark of his wounds.

"If women can bare children you can bare a few stitches like a man."

"I though they only bound their breasts." He smiles offering a small reminder of a night long ago.

"I'll bind you to this bed if you don't shut up." She threatens, her blue eyes narrowing.

The angel only smiles.

To be continued...


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 24 is up, and I've said in the previous chapter there will only be one chapter a month now. I tried to compensate by making this one a bit longer with a lot more SXV action.

**Chapter 24**

A small lamp on the dresser drawer cast a faint glow on the second floor room given to the young prince. It was the only one big enough to accommodate the large number of people now residing in the small side building of the church. The room itself belonged to the old priest and held two beds both leaning up against the wall opposite of the door with a double bookcase in between them. The first bed had a vertical position thus occupying the right side corner in the back of the room, the bookcase was to its left with a small space in between and the latter itself had the second bed as company; this one horizontally position in reference to the wall behind it. The right side of the room also held a smaller bookcase and a dresser drawer which were both in front of the first bed. As for the left side of the room, the wall closest to the door held a window with dark curtains drawn over it and then two ore door: one belonging to a bathroom and the other leading into a smaller adjacent room used as a small office by the priest. It held two windows, a desk and a chair, a few more bookcases relatively small in size and a couch.

The boy slept on the second horizontal bed. Better said he attempted to sleep on his right side with his right arm underneath the pillowcase and the left over it thus cradling the pillow between them. His clothing, now changed from the dust covered garment, consisted of a short sleeved dark blue t-shirt with dark brown pants. The sheets were a soft cream color decorated with two thin simple brown stripes along the length of the edges of both the blanket and the pillow casing. His shoulder long black hair framed his face spilling over the pillow and his eyes were closed, but as Seras came closer the mattress dipping and the wood of the bed frame beneath it squeaking as she sat down next to him, the tremble of his shoulders and the tension in his back became more evident. The same lamp on the dresser drawer dimmed as she approached and now shone with a faint orange glow over the draculina's silvery locks and the prince's pale skin. A faint sheen of sweat marred his brow and the corners of his mouth were clenched shut in a small grimace as he tightened his grip around his pillow and slowly draws his knees up a few cm more towards his chest curling his back.

Watching him, the scent of blood still around him from his wounds like an invisible blanket, Seras reaches out with her right hand while holding the left in her lap. Her fingers spread wide so that she can freely trace the shape of his left cheek with the back of her hand at first and then the pads of her fingers. The gentle touch seemed to soothe the young boy easing some of the tension. Her clothes too changed from the blood and dust soaked garments to a simple silken nightgown with thin spaghetti straps ending a few cm above her knees as she got ready to lie down and watch over his restless sleep. Unfortunately, just as she was about to do it, a loud gasp escaped the prince and his body curled even more in a protective stance and jerked away from her touch as his teeth sank deeply into his bottom lip drawing blood. The small trickle barely registered at first as its scent filled her lungs before she drowned in it. The crimson liquid soaked his t-shirt in seconds, the dark red stain spreading wide over his lower back making the fabric stick to his skin. His wounds were already bandaged, clean and taken care of and yet more and more blood marred everything with such speed that both the mattress beneath him and the sheet were already beginning to bare stains.

"Vlad?" The question, though innocent, dies upon her lips as soon as her right hand finds the edge of his shirt pushing it up to find a pool of blood and soaked bandages barely covering a the corner of a long and jagged cut over his lower back on the right side. Without a second thought she starts tearing off the bandages finding more and more blood until finally the first of many deeply etched wounds upon his skin come to life. She manages to do nothing more as a sudden and splitting headache pierces through her skull like an arrow; the ringing in her ears torture.

Flashback

_"Tighter!" the overweight man with greasy short black hair commanded wiping his right hand of blood on the discarded cloth on top of the wooden table next to the rack; the fabric itself thrown not a moment earlier on top of sharp and blood metal instruments. The young teen bound to the torture devise was stretched further, arms and legs struggling against the metal restraints digging into his bare flesh, the former more than the latter due to the less than normal position his limbs were forced to uphold. Blood marred the young boy's entire back, cuts upon cuts etched deeply within his skin from the unforgiving blow of the whip blow after blow after ruthless blow and trickled down his sides to pool beneath him on the wooden surface of the rack. He was being held in a vertical position, face down instead of up, bloody, beaten and bare without a shred of clothing upon his person and subjected once again to the deranged 'desire' of one filthy man's actions. _

_Over a month and a half had passed since his lat encounter with the monster and time had unfortunately, made their mutual hatred of each other grow far stronger. Blood had been spilled once more on the prince's part and now he was the one paying the price for freedom in his._

_"What was it you asked? Ah yes, care to make it six? __Will that make you more of a man?"_

_He hisses jamming the small, sharp metal into the skin of his lower back once more drawing a deep line into. It took the prince everything he had not to scream as the tell tale shape of another letter was carved into him. His lower lip bled, his entire body was tense and burning from the contact and his hands curled even more against the chains holding him up and bound, knuckles turning white as snow. He neither moved, nor breathed nor made any sound whatsoever. Not until the knife was drawn from his skin mercifully allowing a second to breathe and exhale before sharply inhaling a new when the man repeated the process adding yet another symbol. His __**name**__ was almost all there, bloody, bleeding and carved into the prince's lower back on the right side for the world to see. __**Blasphemy**__. "Oh but it does. Let me __**assure**__ you," the knife trails again cutting across the hard surface of his hipbone with that one final letter. "Words do not describe it." He chuckles most ominously. "I have come too enjoy your futile attempts at freedom. They give me new incentive on how to punish you later!"_

_He then furiously throws the knife away when done and the blood instrument clings loudly while hitting the cold stone floor marring it with royal blood instead of the common, daily filth. His laughter rings loudly, a dark and satisfied chuckle, before proceeds to take hold of the young teen's raven hair and tilt his head back. His skin is unnaturally pale from the blood loss and the shock of the pain inflicted upon him while his bangs cling to his sweaty face partially obstructing his glossy eyes. There were no tears, but a fire of hatred and anger and a vast sea of defiance and arrogance that made the man hiss and sneer in anger at the mere sight of it. The prince would never give up. He would never __**beg**__ for mercy._

_"I would count myself lucky in your shoes for I will have one less problem on my hands and one les piece of shit to have scrapped off my boot. Edirne will happily welcome a __**prince**__," He sneered the word with as much insolence and sarcasm as possible. "So pay them a humble visit. And so you know." He shouts banging Vlad's forehead against the wooded surface before pulling his head back again. At the same time he gestures to the man by the rack to turn the wheel and make it __**tighter**__. "I have told them of your arrival and to make sure you are treated __**just…as….you….deserve**__…" emphasizing those four words he made sure to say the out loud in perfect synchronization to the wheel being turned and the chains and thus his limbs stretched even further. They would pop any moment now should it carry on much longer._

_The prince's teeth struggled to stay close and his voice to remain silent, but there was just so much he could take. His lungs screamed for air, the forced position of his body not allowing it, his shoulders were tearing apart from the seams and his lower back was nothing short of a massacre. And in the very end, however unfortunate and shattering to his pride the act as it may be, he gave of a sound while exhaling and then inhaling with a gasp that could no longer be contained. _

_"So the beast does have a voice." The fat man mocked him releasing his head and taking the already smeared cloth form the table to wipe his hands of the prince's blood. "How gracious of you to grace us with it one final time before you leave." The mocking tone never faltered. "One day, one you will be begging for mercy boy. Whether to me or someone else you will __**beg**__!" he shouts throwing the cloth away. "And when that day comes I will personally come see just how well you beg Vlăduţ."_

_He never heard the rustling of metal scratching the surface of the table while being picked up by his tormentor, but he more than felt it coming down his back as the leather tore into his flesh yet again._

_The torment would never end._

_Not unless he begged._

_._

_._

_And the Prince of Wallachia would __**never**__ beg._

Flashback end

Each move was like a hard fist pounding on the door to his mind that broke through the thick veil of the dark nightmare causing him to wake terrified, confused and frightened and in pain.

"**No!**" he suddenly screams out loud when the pads of her fingers accidentally brush against one of the cuts over his lower back, marks almost as wide as her own fingers and all coming together as one large wound; one clearly distinguishable _word_.

He screams out of terror, fear and desperation and the unexpected violent nature of his 'no' has Seras immediately retract her hand from his back.

The prince's blue eyes shot open to stare up at the ceiling glazed and hooded, unmoving, while his hands grip both her shoulders so hard his nails leave perfectly shaped crescent moon marks over her otherwise pale and flawless skin. His mind far behind the fact that he'd already moved, turned and gotten up half way. He was completely and utterly numb.

"Vlad…" she softly calls his name a second time adjusting her position a little without yet removing his hands and bruising grip from her shoulders she slowly takes back her right hand from his body and instead attempts to place it over his left cheek in a cupping manner, but the pads of her fingers never touch his skin.

"Don't touch me!" His outburst carries the mark of tears trickling down his face, a heavy inhale and terrifying eyes starring at her like a poor dear caught in headlight: with dread and knowing it would die as the tears finally do come.

"No…no…no…n…" he repeatedly whispers as the pieces of a lost and shattered fragment of history come together in the true meaning of one single touch. How could one touch bring such….agony…

The thought is broken with yet another gasp as hundreds of silvery white strands of hair, like the tails of shooting stars, surround his head on either side. Arm move around him in a failed attempt to help that breaks him completely. The terror resurfaces tenfold ripping through his very soul as Seras's forehead leans over his and her mind terse down the few walls of protection around his mind seeing everything he had moments before. And all the things she had yet to see that came to pass that night and those before: encounter all the same in their beginning and end with only the middle holding various distinguishable means of violence.

The prince was starring upward, blood red irises in sight, but then they changed and he was staring into dark brown eyes who belonging to a horrid grin that haunted his life until the day his lost his mind to bloodlust and power and the freedom of being a vampire unbound by the simple pleasure of sleep belonging to humans.

"**No!**" he screams and his blue eyes flash an unexpected red in anger while he pushes her off him with far more strength and force a mere boy of 12 should have. And as Seras falls backwards on the bed with her lower back hitting the small wooden bed frame at the end of the bed a and the back of her head colliding with the side of the bookcase behind the latter, he quickly moves ignoring the pain, ignoring everything and backs up until his back hits the headboard and he can go no further. It is the same position he's had many times over in the past and a mere comforting hand or smile would hardly be enough to make years of torment and abuse go away.

That damned, pathetic mark on his back though horrid to look at and read, was hardly enough to generate such a powerful reaction, yet deep down it was more than a mere scar in a sea of thousands. It was a mark gained for standing up for himself. For fighting back and daring to hit the man who'd become his jailer and personal form of Hell for the last two years of his place in the very dungeon of the place he'd come to know as home. It was a mark burned into his very skin and then cut open while the flesh had still been raw he could more than remember the fell of that burning hot poker being pressed against him and the sharp edge of the knife cutting through.

"No! Stop!….Stop….stop…" his eyesight turned blind to everything else around him and the room. There was no warm bed, safe room or comforting hand reaching out/ He could see nothing but the poker. He could not smell beyond the scent of his own burning flesh and hear the satisfied laughter in his ears. He cannot see the room turning black and the shadows extend from beneath the bed, shadows not belonging to his draculina. There is _only_ the poker and the retched excuse of a man who'd….

"**Stop touching me!**" he screams the words from the pit of his lung with all his might and every word carried every ounce of anger he never got to release during his imprisonment. It was now all free to be expressed to his hearts desire. His irises were still red and darkness swallowed the room tenfold threatening to put out the light of the lamp nestled on top of the dresser entirely. New walls formed and the room they created started to collapse onto itself becoming smaller and smaller, the walls screeching violently. The shadows were the only elements holding all that agony incased within the walls of that room. Keeping them away from all other curious ears.

The prince curled his body over his knees ignoring the tearing of his own flesh, the blood and the pain emanating from them. His knees were drawn up to his chest in a protective manner while both his hands tightly gripped the sides of his head and he kept on pushing against the mattress with the soles of his feet as if the wooden board behind would give way and give him more space.

"Stop…stop…." He was shaking violently, blood all around him as the fresh warm liquid seeped into the fabric of his shirt coating his lower back entirely. His pants followed, and then the sheets beneath him were smeared as he moved as was the pillow casing he pushed against attempting to get as close to the wall behind the bed as possible.

"Master…." Seras hesitantly approaches him, her movement slow and careful, as she gets back up and crawls over the mattress on her hands and knees while slowly reaching out for him with her right hand.

"Leave me alone!" seeing her hand enter his line of sight he backs up even further clearly afraid of her touch; of any touch.

"Master I did not mean t…."

"No don't…." he pleads, her fingers almost touching his left knee. The fear was beyond anything she'd ever see. It was terror, sheer terror unbound and liberated from the small abused body curled up in front of her. There wasn't a limb that did not visibly and uncontrollably shook or trembled and no part of him that did not try to escape her touch the closer she got.

"I didn't know he…."

"Don't say it." He raises his tone in the hope it would make her stop, but she doesn't.

"He uses it after rap…."

"**No!**" the prince finally cracks breaking out of his self inflicted prison with a powerful scream. He grabs her extended hand with his left, pushes himself up and forward on his knees ignoring everything and screams in her face as his other hand takes hold of her throat in a very threatening manner.

"**Never say it! Don't you ever say it! Ever!**"

He was screaming, shouting and poring out his soul. And yet his bark was worse than his bite as the last bit of his strength went into it and not his body or the grip he hand upon her throat. His fingers could barely curl around her throat.

"Never say…" More tears poured down his face from the corners of his eyes as he breaks down in front of her. And despite him trying to fight against it he ultimately looses the battle and his head lowers in shame and defeat, bangs shielding his face from sight.

"He _damaged_ you…" Seras whispers to a trickle of red dripping down her own left cheek.

The once mighty prince broke down entirely in front of his draculina, his head falling over her chest as sob after sob gripped him like an unforgiving deadly disease with no know cure: swift, cruel and eventually fatal. One that makes you suffer long before it grants you the mercy of death and kills you. There was no more pride, or strength or hope whatsoever for something better to come. What more could be left that the world had no already robbed him of?

He was still hemorrhaging from the newly formed wound on his lower back and it was the farthest thing on his mind. Both his hands go numb as his body all but goes limp against her in a comforting embrace that does not disappoint.

_Why is screaming in the dark so bad?_

_It's not little one. You can scream all you like until your throat gets sore form the effort if you have to._

_**I know.**_

"You really **do know**…" silent crimson tears join the boys suffering as she immediately wraps her arms around his shoulders feeling the desperation in his own embrace as he lastly acknowledges her request to be held. His shoulder tremble violently one sob after another…he's so broken….

_**Until your throat gets sore form the effort.**_

Yet he never did. All that time, all those times, he never did cry. Not once. And each time the pain would be greater, it would come quicker, swifter and harsher, and it would break him down until he _eventually_ caved in and cried out. But never, **never**, had he ever begged. And it's in that moment there that she finally realizes his first explanation had never been a genuine lie. No the lie came much later when he denied it entirely. It was never about _wanting_ touch, but what touch could bring when offered.

Seras leans a bit to the right until her back presses against the wall using it as support as she cradles his body in her arms. The left side of his head settles better over her chest and she raises her legs so that both her knees frame either side of his hips; her body like a protective cocoon around him.

Time passed slowly, at a snails pace, as sobs become light sighs and sighs soft murmurs until they too turned silent and the young prince finally calms down after reliving himself of years worth, centuries worth, of pent up emotion. The light of the lamp regains its strength as darkness slowly fades and the shadows disappear, they too gradually vanishing into nothingness.

"If garbage could talk it would bare my face. It's no wonder I…"

_The bird of Hermes was my name…_

Instead of finishing his sentence he sighs loudly dropping his forehead back on the pillowcase. He's lying on his stomach as a warm piece of cloth very gently cleaned the blood of his back. The stained shirt and sheets were all discarded at the foot of the bed as Seras sat next to him on the mattress with a bowl of lukewarm, reddish water behind her back. "At least the trial of your childhood was only seeing and not feeling. Warm and dead instead of warm and fucking alive through out it all!" he spat clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white and biting down on his lower lip again almost to the point of drawing blood as the cloth found the word etched directly into his skin it was by far the most painful wound ever inflicted on his body. The harshness of his tone stung deep as the echo of the words reverberated off the walls causing the young vampire to flinch; his words cutting deep.

"I'm sorry." The apology however is shift and mostly silent as he sighs the words carefully without turning his head from the pillowcase to peer over his shoulder. He heard the sound of the cloth being dunked in water and cleaned before feeling the cool sensation on his back once again. "That wasn't what I meant…"

"But you're right." Seras's sudden agreement comes as a surprise that prompts him to finally look up and then towards her. "She didn't suffer shame, just death. I've long accepted that, long before meeting you."

Despite the utter truthfulness of her words he could still hear the lingering spark of hurt and sadness in the very depth of her crimson irises. Thus silence falls between them, a moment in which neither of the two spoke as Seras continued to work. Silence, heavily weighing silence that eventually fades with the tiny squeak of the mattress as Seras scoots a little closer and cups the right side of his face with her left hand leaving behind the piece of cloth spread out entirely over his lower back; her touch very soft and very careful.

"Can I never touch you?" her thumb draws tiny patterns over his cheek hardly moving away from that one fixed spot. All she dares do more is brush a stray strand of hair behind his left ear.

"You're touching me now." He replies placing his left hand over hers in a reassuring gesture attempting to smile. Yet whether it was meant for her or him wasn't quite clear.

"Not this kind of touch." She tells him and the phrase is as effective as a dull blade to the heart: inflicting pain while the victim still lives on to suffer instead of immediately dying. Thus his gaze drops and he leans his head even further into pillow and away from her; the kind of touch she wasn't looking for, not at the moment. At the same time though, his grip on the back of her hand increases silently begging her not to let go.

"No." he tells her and the word is no longer the surprise it should have been. And yet it somehow managed to sound so much more ominous with the dead like silence that followed in its wake. "Touch is so different, is it not?" he eventually whisper without opening his eyes; his tone of voice remains low without growing passed the intensity of a soft murmur. "Between what **I** am and what you've always seen are centuries of time." He pauses swallowing hard. "Time _heals_…I think," he chuckles at the irony of said words feeling the cuts upon his back as the skin is being stretched. "It's what the world sais, is it not? Time _heals_ **all** **wounds**." By the time he's done speaking his biting his lower lip hard and clenching the pillowcase between his fingers. It was the world's biggest fucking lie. The tension in his shoulders is clearly visible.

"The first…." The prince then begins after what seemed like eternity, time in which his draculina had remained perfectly still not saying anything at all. His tone spoke of great hesitance and reluctance to open such a sensitive subject. He stood like a beggar hesitating in front of the very door that would lead him to riches, food and shelter. He has the key and the will to go on, but still lingers at the threshold afraid to leave the life he knows in favor a one beyond his comprehension. "My first time was….horrid. I couldn't even look at her much less _perform_." The word was forced as he spoke and the corners of his mouth grimaced accordingly while doing so. Confessing was a heavy burden indeed. "But I had to get married so…so I made myself…" he sighs heavily opening his deep blue eyes, but not raising them to look at her just yet. "I made sure I could at least _carry out_ without further embracing myself. Without letting them know that..." The tone of his voice dropped more and more until it turned into a whisper that then stopped entirely. His hand moved down tracing the shape of her wrist before grabbing hold of it in a strong hold. There was fear she would disappear otherwise. His confession already spoke of past horrors inflicted to both himself and by him to others. "I couldn't _**see**_ _her_. Every touch made me sick and I think…I think I almost broke her arm pinning her down and just doing it." A small sob passed his lips along with a new set of crystal clear tears that trickled over his cheeks dripping onto the pillowcase he sought comfort in. His hand trembled while holding onto her wrist and he looked, once again, so incredibly broken. His fingers dug into her skin, but his grip was nowhere strong enough to cause actual damage. He was far too tired and exhausted for any of the sort. "God I was pathetic. I couldn't even finish properly." He chuckles at the irony, though the corers of his lips barely curl upward. "It was a good thing there was always someone to fight, someone to maim and kill. I felt so much more at home between the dead and the dying, the mangled corpses, the spoils and devastation of war. The blood and carnage it would bring and all the screams of terror and agony while calling my name. I knew that, I understood that. Everything else was foreign…_**unnatural**_."

Unprovoked the prince stars laughing out of the blue, a true laugh this time.

"Do you know the best thing about suffering draculina?" As he speaks once again his tone is eerie and sinister revealing the pleasure only death could bring. He finally turns his head to look at her and his eyes are a mix between utter sadness and cruel humor." It's looking into someone else's face as they suffer instead of you. Knowing that you and you alone have the power to make it stop…or make it unbearable. How they scream, how they beg? And how their heartbeats rise and fall until there is nothing left but utter silence and the sound of blood dripping to the floor."

The prince tilts his head a little more to the right, his tears long since dried up, but his expression…a maddening one. "Glorious."

"Yes master." She agrees offering a smile the old Seras Victoria may not have been as comfortable with as this new side of her; a side that seemed to understand everything so much more.

"Can you keep a secret Seras?" he asks removing her hand from his cheek and entwining their fingers together. His head drops back down and he turns to partially lay on his right side offering her a little more room on the mattress.

"Perhaps." She tells him and the answer makes him smile genuinely even if just a little.

"Then keep mine." He whispers. "A mind is a terrible thing to loose and I've lost mine so many times already. Do you know the difference between the retch you see now and the retch that took on an empire?" he chuckles sarcastically as though finding his own words highly amusing. He doesn't wait for her to answer. "He learned to step on others just as they had stepped on him and turned his unshed tears and his anger into blood, gore and death, warm crimson gold seeping though his fingers like water and crunching beneath his feet like bone not even fit for a dog. I made pain and suffering a currency for respect and bathe the soil of my home in more blood the world will ever know. I _made_ them **SUFFER**!"

The prince shouts squeezing her hand without truly noticing. Anger fueled his grip prompting him to grip her so tight he breaks bone causing fissures to appear in her wrist. The strength unleashed is beyond human and with it the entire room darkens anew without him noticing, the light of the lamp unable to stand alone against the typhoon.

Seras gasps not only at the sight his words remind her of, but the pain he inflicts breaking her hand; his action so unlike a mere human boy's. She remembered the scene he'd showed her: the burning field, the dead and the blood and the cruel satisfied laughter in the background of the dark figure whose head was raised to the heavens in utter defiance. She's forced to close her eyes and lower her head suddenly feeling dizzy from the intensity of the emotion unwillingly projected into her very core.

"I'm sorry." The prince apologizes in a soft tone that reaches her ears making her reopen her eyes. He in turn is not watching her but their joined hands and the bruised patch of skin marring the otherwise flawless pale flesh. Each of his fingers left a tell tale sign and distinct impression across the upper part of hand and palm. "Strange, is it not?" he whispers using his legs to push himself up into a sitting position grinding his teeth and biting his lower lip. "To die in blood and despair, my fate lost to the scum of the world, whereas you died with nothing but tears in your eyes. Without even choosing anger over everything else as I had." His fingers curl around her injured limb once again, though without inflicting any sort of damage this time around.

"You shouldn't move." She tells him instinctively placing her right hand over his left shoulder to stop him.

"I'd bleed either way." He whispers in return gazing deeply into her eyes.

"You killed him too? That man?" she doesn't need to press further for him to understand who it was she was referring to.

"No." he whispers grin wide and eyes gleaming with a mischievous streak within. "I had other plans for him. I would show you if I could."

"Show me." She demands whispering as the look in her beautiful crimson eyes darkens and her brows furrow slightly. Their gazes lock in silent conversation as it takes her just a few seconds to reach into his mind and see the years of his once human life and the lifetime of planed vengeance. Seconds to watch as the look in her eyes never faltered or changed. She doesn't run away.

"Did it ease your heart?" she then questions once it all was over and done with.

"You ease my heart." He tells her without a second thought. "Everything you've seen, there's no denying it. Taking pleasure in every minute of his suffering…it was well deserved. And after all those years it was the best taste of freedom I ever had. The weight finally lifted off my shoulders if only for a little while. I tried so hard, every day a struggle to survive. And no one ever saw, not once. My true secret draculina, the one at the very bottom of my retched and miserable soul, is emptiness; empty and lonely. That alone is what I've always had and what I always hid beneath the face of a blood craved monster. I agreed to go despite not wanting just to spare them: the men, my brother, my family. Yet my father left me at their mercy. I tried to keep my people free, my country whole and give them a good and honest life where one could walk freely and not fear being slaughtered for the coin in their pocket or lack there of and they branded me monster, tyrant, demon, impaler, traitor…vampire. How ironic," he smiles closing his eyes and enjoying the soothing touch of her soft palm against his cheek as he leans his head more into her hand as well as the understanding look within her ruby irises; eyes devoid of judgment. "To become one."

The tone of his voice overflowed with unspoken emotion. Seras smiles in return, her full rosy lips curling in a beautiful smile revealing the tips of her lengthening fangs. Her eyes soften and become half linden allowing her long lashes to frame and accentuate her ruby irises while her thumb caresses his cheek.

"We are allowed to trample upon the weak." She whispers causing him to smile in return and chuckle. The sound of his laughter happy and carefree. And it only comes to a halt when she leans in tilting his head a little to the right and up. The kiss catches him by surprise, soft and fleeting, barely enough to make him look up at her as she pulls away from his forehead incredibly slow.

"Again…" he whispers desperately pleading and taking in that much needed breath he didn't know he was holding. It was enough that she holding his cheek, he wasn't expecting a kiss. The second kiss is longer and over the same spot, but she then unexpectedly drop her head as he's still looking on and captures his lips in a brief and simple touch testing the water before diving head on. They barely part and he's forced to breathe in deep again, but the small pause allows him to close his eyes and savor the moment to its fullest. Seras's left hand boldly claims the other side of his head brushing over his left temple in the process before sinking her fingers into the soft, black silken mass of his shoulder long tresses. She can feel the tension slightly rising as her actions seem to box in his within her grasp and thus she remains at an adequate distance, yet still close enough to keep his at her side. The added touch makes it easier to tilt his head to her liking so that by their third kiss, when she briefly pulls her lips from his before rejoining them, the pressure she applies is greater and reciprocated in full when he kisses her back sighing softly against her moist lips. Their lips move together in a slow and steady pace, the boundaries still so insecure. The tip of her tongue brushes against his full bottom lip before capturing it between her teeth mindful of the sharpness of her fangs and the damage he has already inflicted upon it. The small gust of air passing his lips is warm and soothing against her lips, a seconds worth and no more, before rejoining; fire and passion ablaze between them.

_Creek… _

The sound of footsteps and creaking floorboards was light as a feather at first before growing in intensity as it filled the small hallway leading up to their room. The platform stairs leading up to the second floor were old, probably some of the oldest parts of the church as was the hall and thus both squeaked each time someone crossed over them. The two elements were the sole cause of the ghostly sounds haunting the old Victorian church. The priest in question took his time in climbing, taking one step after another with great care and patience befitting an old gentleman such as himself. One wrinkled hand held the curbed end of his dark brown cane while the other glide upward along the wooden surface of the railing with each taken step. Reaching the top, that very last step led into a small and narrow hallway a little more than a meter in width and approximately 2 in length with one door at each end and a third closer to the one on the left. The first two were the bedrooms while the last a simple bathroom. There the old man turned right heading for the somewhat larger of the bedrooms, the room that had its own private bathroom as well as a small adjacent room connected to via a door which acted as a small study for the old gentleman.

"Wait…" the prince pleads with a certain amount of roughness to his tone of voice, a deep and out of breath voice, unwilling to let go so soon and end the last kiss shared. Unfortunately, Seras pulls back regardless of the tightening grip upon her wrists as he holds her hands around his head and her fingers deeply buried in his hair. His own words cause him pain seeing her move away. Bangs cover his eyes making it harder to see his expression and his bottom lips was almost raw and bleeding from the pressure of his own tenth as he bit down on it in anger. _Stay…_

Her hands slipped from his grasp, fading like smoke blown in the wind. And with them there is gentle pressure against his upper body as both the bandages and the shirt reform to hide the wounds marring his back. The blood smeared sheets, the marcs on the floor and the water in the bowl all disappear as though never there leaving no trace at all.

The door opens and the weight on the bed is gone.

"Still up my boy?" the elderly priest ask him with a small hint of surprise in his tone of voice while switching his cane form his right hand to his left and turning around to close the door to his own room behind him. "And the light's still on? You should have been asleep by now considering," he pauses for a moment rethinking his words. And considering the events of the evening it wasn't hard to do. "Well I wouldn't blame if you couldn't. Not with vampires looming over your head."

Removing the light scarf from around his throat he folds it neatly and places it on top of the door side dresser equipped with four drawers one on top of the other. All the while the boy remains silent; his head bowed with bangs covering the upper half of his face, slump shoulders and gritted teeth, hands balled into fists gripping at the fabric of his pants and the sheet pooled around his knees. Sitting there as he did he displayed an utterly broken image, he looked as alone and devastated on that bed as he felt inside. All he had was the lingering warmth of the bandages freshly wrapped around him, warmth slowly dissipating from the small amount crimson still seeping from his wounds.

The priest gives off a slight sigh watching the boy from the corner of his left eye while peering over his left shoulder from his position by the dresser.

"Ties to that family tend to do such things. And scars formed tend to go even deeper. Until you find yourself one day hearing many a ghostly whispers of deeds done or failed to do."

Old age left him wide a small and slow stride, a 1/3 of what it had once been in his youth, but the truth of the matter was he didn't really to be as fast anymore. Everything he needed was closely at hand nestled in the small dresser drawer and bookcases lining the walls of the room. A change of clothes and a good book; that was all he wished for now a days. The room was his, but given the newly developed circumstances and extra company he would be sharing it.

"You don't k…" Vlad raises his voice ready to scream at the man to leave him alone and just be silent, but the words never come. He was angry and hurt and the old fool knew nothing of how he felt. He'd pleaded and still she'd gone. **She left!**

After everything she just…and it hurt so much…

The mattress dips a second time easily starling him due to his heightened state of tension and anger towards the elder man. His shoulders tense tenfold and his head jerks upward and to the left, blue eyes wide in disbelief. Two fingers alone had touched his right cheek going under his chin without him even noticing. Seras stood by his side once again, her legs underneath her and her powers masking her presence for the moment. Her ruby irises were ablaze and glowing like heated pieces of coal abandoned in a dying flame. And as he watched her upper body leaned in reducing the distance between them until there were but a few cm left. She held her left index finger in front of her lips in a simple and familiar gesture that spoke volumes without requiring actual words.

_Secret…_

Instant relief washes over the young prince seeing that hidden smile behind her finger and the mischievous gleam within her eyes as she concealed herself so beautifully from everyone else but him. His wide and startled expression softens, shoulders relaxing as the weight of the world is lifted from them, eyelids dropping as all that anger is just washed off him in the blink of an eye. The mere brush on his cheek turned into a long and sensual caress beautifully executed by the back of her hand and soft fingers is enough to soothe the pain.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Paddy asks hearing the boy speak up but not quite understanding. His hearing aid was giving him problems once again making him reach up to his right ear and adjust the settings until the slight buzzing sound vanished. He turns around with a book now in his left hand as he lets his right drop to the shelf the book had come from. The book had an old and warn dark brown spine with golden writing on the cover and yellowish pages. He saw the boy, but his head was turned from him facing the wall staring at it though nothing was there. He appeared unresponsive and yet a mere look alone was enough to notice the sudden lack of tension in his shoulders. "Is something the matter?"

"No…" Vlad softly replies never taking his eye off the cream colored sheets and the now tiny white body hidden beneath. He even proceeds to reach out with his right arm only to stop a second or so after and drop it back onto his lap. His outstretched legs curl inward until his sitting in an almost Indian style position. The two words he utters later on 'It's fine' hardly reach the priest's ears.

"What?"

"I said no, alright?" the prince shouts in anger more annoyed than actually angry. Couldn't he be left alone? His left hand lies over his left thigh, fingers dangling in mid air and out of sight concealed by the rest of his body. The tiny black nose that brushes against them it warm to the touch, the whiskers fine and the soft white fur feathery like.

"You don't have to shout, you know. I may be old, but I'm not that deaf yet." Paddy replies turning around to face the boy this time and picking up his cane before making his way across the room toward the boy's bed. "It was just a question."

"I don't need question from a _priest_." The prince's tone is harsh as he speaks. He slowly turns to peer over his right shoulder just enough to let the blue of his iris peer from under the black curtain of his bangs.

"I see." The priest stops half way examining the boy with a much more focused gaze. Anger had been dominant at first and then it vanished entirely only to reappear now as a defensive act. It was peculiar not say the least. And yet very telling and revealing at the same time. And so stopping about 1/2 half a foot's distance from the bed, both hands on his cane and the book tucked away under his right arm, the priest takes another brief moment to study the youth before him. Age holds experience and experience brings forth wisdom.

"Something else other than that vampire tonight has knowingly hurt you greatly." The phrase was barely whispered and yet the unmistakable flash of emotion, though quickly hidden by the prince, did not go unnoticed by the old priest. After so many ears of hearing people's confessions and interacting with them and their 'every day' problems the signs were easy to spot. "So much in fact, it has taken your trust. And left you fear."

"I fear nothing!" The boy shouts like the noble prince that is he is hissing and emphasizing each word with a ruthless harshness that matches the deadly glare within his ocean eyes, narrowed and demanding he be proven wrong. No one, no one would ever call him weak; even if it was just implied in the hidden context of their words.

"What's more, you've buried all that anger so deep inside it can no longer be bottled up. Your eyes show me that. More so," he pauses shifting on his feet and gripping the curved head of his cane a little tighter. His next words would not be entirely pleasant to hear. "There is a person you've told, quite recently might I ad, and that very person is the sole element keeping you together. The sole link you have and the very cause of your fear. What you truly fear more than anything…" One word was all it took, the entire sentence already too much.

"Stop." He whispers and the priest's eyes do not fail to notice the slight tremble of his shoulders as well as the emotion shining within those lost blue eyes. Indeed, the words had been a bit to close to home.

"Is watching that person walk away, pushed away by your own words. The things that happen are never _something_ are they? They're _everything_. And letting them come to pass is letting people destroy themselves and others."

"You know _nothing_ of people destroying themselves." Vlad sneers, a sinister grin appearing on his face. His already narrowed eyes take on an ever more demonic appearance. "_Father_." And oh the hatred in that one word as he both acknowledges and insults the man's position and the Catholic Church.

"Perhaps not everything." Paddy agrees undeterred by the sheer unnerving look a simple child was giving him. Curiosity lined his words, but he was careful to keep it buried and buried deep for that matter." But I have seen the present and have lives the past for over 80 years and all the damage done to the suffering souls of this bleeding city."

The prince snorts starting to chuckle and finally turns a bit more towards the pastor briefly alienating himself from Seras's gentle touch. She stays hidden beneath the blanket.

"You are just an old man. An old man and a fool."

"And you but a boy, but that doesn't mean we can't be having this interesting conversation, now does it?" he tells him with a smile choosing to ignore the bitterness in the boy's last words. "We're not at war you and I. Surely you know that." The words hold a brief recognition for the young vampire hiding beneath the blanket having heard that phrase once before. _We are not at war you and I_. Her little body shifted in position beneath the fabric, button nose emerging a little more from under it along with a tiny amount of pure white fur. She tiptoed with tiny steps across the mattress keeping her belly down without giving away her position.

"The world's at war _Father_, seeding its own destruction."

"And what do you seed? Anger? Revenge? So much hatred in those young eyes of yours."

"And what if I do?" he suddenly questions smirking as the question somehow manages to take p by surprise. Despite it all, he'd not quite expected such a straight answer for a child so young. "What if I just let it happen? Watching and waiting over and over as the world bathes in its own blood sinning against God." His lips curl upwards in a very sinister and eerie looking grin that has the priest looking quite unnerved by it. Even his eyebrows furrow at the sudden change in topic, more so the way in which the child was speaking. "There is **no** _God_."

The room went deadly silent. Vlad's tone was dark and somber leaving not trace of doubt whatsoever. Not even a thimble. And for the first time that night the priest felt the unnatural touch of an ice cold chill running down his spine.

"And you are nothing to me," The grin does not falter as Vlad inclines his head to the left raising his chin a little and showing off the tale tell tip of his canine. "_Father_."

The mere way in which he acts, talks and looks all work to sever a single purpose: testing faith. Is there or isn't there a God Father? And though the latter had no idea of it everything was so perfectly calculated that by the time the conversation had reached that point the chill running down his spine increased tenfold.

"Is that why you hate him?" And it is the sole question he can ask while watching those blue eyes before shift in amusement.

The boy chuckles once again further confusing the priest. Each time he was coming close to understanding a little about the boy and how his mind worked he would turn at a different angle making him start all over. Particularly the way he would always say the word 'father'. It was cynical, sarcastic and always seemed amused to a degree that went beyond the subtle hatred lingering beneath.

"I don't _hate_ God Father. But I have no love for him either. I never once asked for _**his**_ mercy and yet _**I**_ _saw_ the limits of that mercy. I once had faith, unwavering faith, to do all in his name and stand proud for what I believed. Then one day I woke up and the dream was gone. When nothing is left but corpses left to rot in their graves like filth. No one can change that Father. Not God, the devil or you."

Though unseen, Seras presses the top of head against the side of his thigh and then curls the rest of her body against it.

"Tell me, what are you holding onto then?" Paddy calmly says unable to mask the curiosity within his words while leaning a bit more onto his came, his tone understanding and peaceful almost like that of a grandfather telling his grandchild a bedtime story.

"The closest thing I have to God." Vlad replies with a smile. "And the fate I choose." At the same time he lets his left hand drop over the soft white fur wrapping his fingers around the tiny body holding her tight.

"Well I must say," the priest smiles while replying. "It's been a while since I had such an interesting conversation, much less with a child." He chuckles. "Things are never as they seem, are they?" one moment his eyes were calm and gentle and the other sharp and meticulously analyzing the entire situation and the person in front of him. "There is more underneath those blue eyes of your. Much, much more."

Almost _threatening_. Yes that would be a good way to describe his current manner of speaking. Threatening to divulge whatever heavily guarded secret the boy was keeping and he'd just recently uncovered by merely watching and listening. However, merely moments later, his entire expression changes along with both his tone and the look in his eyes. He laughs chuckling softly.

"But I guess that would be a good conversation piece for another time. What a night indeed. I've not debated God like this in a long time, how refreshing." Still chuckling he turns to the left starting to walk towards the other door of the room. Just like that he reverted back to his highly eccentric 86 year old self; just an old man without a care in the world. "Always nice to have young people around. You never know what can pop up next?" he cradled his book to his chest taking slow steps while leaning his weight on his right hand and cane. "Why I even had a kid with wings, imagine that." He laughs genuinely amused. "You've met him of course, the young lad with the short raven hair, quite a character mind you. A little weird, but in my line of work you meet all kind of people. Nearly gave me a heart attack. And with the years, I barely recognized him."

While talking he walked over to the adjacent room keeping his back to the boy. Seras's head pops up catching Vlad's attention and diverting it from the old priest as the latter distances himself more. She easily climbed over his thigh moving under his left arm seeking warmth and pressing herself against his stomach.

"Oh and do go to sleep. The night's still young." He waves with the book in his left hand just before opening the door to his office. Light shone from the closed room bathing the chamber before the door then closes behind him with a soft click.

"What's wrong?" he asks keeping his voice low. Seras in turn remained silent curling a bit more against him, softly beginning to purr. The fingers of his left hand tread slowly through her fur brushing the short silvery fibers over her spine.

/They were human./ she tells him whispering the words into his mind.

"Who draculina?"

/The corpses left to rot in their graves./ it is only then that he understands her meaning and remembers exactly who had been just humans. Hearing her speak Vlad's eyes narrow slightly as he searches his mind trying to understand what she was referring to. The simple words were like finding a needle in a hay stack. He filtered through his words to the priest until a he found what he'd been searching for.

_And no one can change that Father. Not God, the devil or you._

/You were right, about me./ Her tone lowers and she sighs softly into his mind cuddling more into his side. /Right to be angry, I remember./

"You would have died otherwise." The two then fell into silence giving the prince's words a somewhat deeper meaning. It had been anger, nothing but anger at her refusal to kill and her pity towards those humans who unlike her would have not hesitated to pull the trigger and ask questions later. But later that same night when the anger faded and reason returned, he knew she hadn't been all that wrong.

/Why tell him?/ her large blue eyes reopen as she turns to look upward meeting his gaze. There wasn't a need to ask who.

"I don't know." He answers her slowly bringing his right hand to her head and brushing her left ear in between his index and thumb. "I haven't talked to one in centuries." His eyes close taking in a deep breath and he lowers his head a little so that his bangs fall over his face. The light in the room began to flicker, dimming down until it faded entirely bathing the room in darkness. Only a faint ray of light seeped through a tiny slit in the curtains covering the only window in the room, just enough to help make out the shape of their silhouettes.

"Lay with me tonight." He whispers in a husky tone that echoes in the otherwise empty room. His sole reply is a light meow before the small body vanishes entirely passing through his fingers like fine mist. The mattress then shifts and her left cheek brushes his right a moment later, her warm breath caressing the shell of his ear. She whispers hotly, her full lips moist and warm, ghosting sensually over the shell of his ear. She moves with ease despite the small space left between the boy and wall. And once she passes his left shoulder she turns her body around so that her back can lay down on the mattress with ease. Her long legs stretch along the length of the bed, yet remain partially elevated by being bent at the knees a few cm of the mattress.

The sweet fragrance of her hair assaulted the prince's nose as soon as the young vampire muzzled the underside of his jaw affectionately then whispered beautifully into his ear, his head turned to follow her completely drawn by the power of her touch and the slow, erotic movement of her lips on the underside of his ear just before cupping the right side of his face. Thus, he turned following her obediently and once his right knee bumped into her and he watched her lay down on her back with a hooded expression on his face as she sinks into the softness of the pillow slightly turning her head to the left and her long silken hair fanning out beneath her and around her shoulders and upper arms.

"Come…" she calls whispering the word ever so softly while opening her arms to him in silent invitation. Her crimson eyes shone in the very dim light of the room reflecting the bare minimum of light making the color of her irises reveal diff shades of red all at the same time. Lying down on his stomach he settles in her embrace keeping the wounds on his back and sides from touching the mattress, head resting over her soft chest and right breast, arms wrapping themselves around her middle holding her close. Touch may still be painful and uneasy as it always had been in this form with her, but he'd pushed it in the back of his mind before and he would do it again. Hers was a touch that would **never** hurt him. Sharp nails brush over his scalp teasingly without inflicting pain or drawing blood, her fingers threading with care through his silken raven hair tenderly luring him into peaceful slumber. Her chest doesn't move beneath his head in that silent lullaby that would have accompanied the soft beating notion of her heart. Yet alas, neither one sang to him. Their gift was only silence, soothing silence to fight against the demons still lingering in the back of his mind. His warm breath caressed the inner side of her left breast time and time again as he breathes peacefully, chest and shoulders rising and falling in perfect rhythm. A thin, unseen shadow moved around them pulling the blanket up and over their legs until it covered the boy's back entirely.

"Your heart's racing…" She breaths nuzzling the top of his head affectionately hearing him let out a small chuckle. Touch didn't hurt this time, but the fear of touch and what it could require so much more time to fade away. And after the terrible shock to his body that one memory brought forth from the depths of hell itself even her touch would need time to heal.

"For now." He replies in return in a husky and breathless tone, sleep calling him more and more….her body and embrace so welcoming…

It could only last for so long.

To be continued…

_._

_The bird of Hermes was my name…_

_Rising from ashes undead I reclaim my Name._

_._

Thanks for reading, and any review would be appreciated. Till next time.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 25**

Here's chapter 25, this one will include different scenes all into one, I tried making it longer because it had little sense to split it up into pieces. I tried focusing on both SXV and IXW this time.

Enjoy.

Chapter 25

The stillness of the night engulfed the entire church snow flakes falling from the sky all around silently settling over the white blanket covering the ground. And in the stillness Seras's chest lacked all trace of sound or movement; not even the smallest flicker of a beat or intake of air. None of her muscles were working to move her chest in that all too familiar manner of up and down and with the boy's head as it rested cushioned on top of her ample chest with his left cheek pressed direct over her sternum and his temple resting over the inner side of her left breast; warm breath caressing her skin each time he breathed slowly and calmly. Slender fingers moved through his raven hair playing with the short shoulder long strands and softly tracing pattern over his scalp while her other arm, the right, lay over the middle of his back beneath the blanket. His chest rose and fell in a perfect rhythm, eyes closed and arms hugging the draculina's upper body to his chest much like the child he resembled. The blanket had fallen a little and the shirt he wore rode up his lower back and right side by a few cm revealing the slow motion of her right hand as her fingers slowly traced a few of the scars marring his back beneath the pads of her fingers; scars that included the very one that broke him that night. He had his chest covering her stomach and right flank, his pelvis pressing against the outer side of her right thigh and his legs encasing her right. One arm was trapped between her upper back and the mattress and the other lazily draped over a part of her waist while bent at the elbow so that his forearm touched the mattress and his hand was flexed with the back of pressing into the soft underside of her left breast. His sleep was completely carefree and devoid of faces and grins hiding, lurking in the shadow whispering promise of suffering yet to come. There were no nightmares to haunt his dreams or trouble his thoughts, no past to awaken dark memories of the past and rekindle the flame of his own personal version of Hell in those former formative years in the young prince's life. For truly, a deep analysis of what it is to be human, is to recognize oneself as the most retched and vial of creations to ever walk upon the earth.

Her hand never stopped stroking his hair. Hours passed, yet she never faltered.

The pattern on the ceiling became redundant long ago and the partial flicker of light still seeping through the window remained the only thing to show of the intense crimson of Seras's eyes. She did not sleep despite the exhaustion and hunger her own body felt since waking from her master's the coffin in his homeland. And that had been days ago now. Her eyes never closed once as she stood watch over her master guarding his peaceful sleep. Her senses were spread out throughout the small chapel sensing everything and everyone present: the child and its parents, the priest fallen asleep in his office in his easy chair with the book he'd been reading in his lap. And off all of these Walter seemed to be only soul still up. Ironically, he was doing the exact same thing as her: watching over that which mattered most. He sat on the bed next to a sleeping Integra and baby, his back leaning against the wooden headboard and right leg fully outstretched though the left was drawn up to his chest so that his left arm could rest upon it. His eyes were narrowed in deep concentration and the fingers of his hand lazily played with thin microfilm wires that never made a sound.

Then…a content sigh broke her concentration shattering the image of the raven haired teen in the other room and returning her attention to her own chamber. The gentle sound came seconds before the warm body on top of her slightly moved no more than an inch or too curling against her, bringing her closer to himself as a child would the toy he was cradling. His head dropped a little making the fine strands of his hair tickle her skin as they moved while his grip on both her middle and legs tightened ever so slowly. The sound of his voice was delicate, a soft and tender murmur, content and at peace.

Seras drops her gaze from the bland uneventful ceiling to the top of his head remaining perfectly still as he stirred in her embrace. He continued to remain undisturbed in his slumber although a tiny spark in his mind caught her attention not long after. Where at first there was nothing but simple darkness, a flicker of light like a tiny flame appeared in the void and with it as she held him tighter in her embrace, came the beautiful image of orange light and a stunning sunset. Her eyelids closed, her mind diving it curiously…the breeze warm on her face.

Her eyes reopen to the sun kissing her face, orange glowing all around and stretching out for miles and miles reaching for a distant point on the horizon where the fields could touch the sky and join as one. Mountains rose from their union in the distance, tall and majestic and yet appearing no higher than the fields themselves due to the vast distance; the setting sun leaving an everlasting imprint on the ever-changing land, colors ranging from bright red, to orange, yellow, pink, violet heading towards blue…the night slowly descending on the ruins of its life. The blanket of flowers and grass covered the once virginal plains forever scarred by the deeds and greed of man, life brought forth into the world by the very bloodshed and death and those buried beneath he protective layer of soil.

The wind on her skin felt marvelous: warm and caressing her long white hair making it dance a soft waltz behind her. The smell of fresh grass assaulted her nose, the silence of the outstretched meadow and the warmth of the sunbathing her whole body.

"Beautiful, is it not?" the same wind carried the deep baritone of that husky voice to her ears breaking the enchanting hold the sunset had on her. Her head turns to the right looking over her shoulder and sees the gentle breeze sway through thick wavy hair as black as the night itself and over the white fabric stretched over a strong muscular body clad in only a white dress shirt with am open v-collar and black pants ending several cm over his ankles, the edges tattered.

Turning her head the breeze captured her long silver hair entirely making it dance around her like the most beautiful of veils matching the color of her dress perfectly. The latter, which she only then noticed, was made out of soft gossamer fabric as white as snow that hugged her figure perfectly dipping low over her shoulders and leaving them bare and then crossing her chest in an almost perfect heart like shape due to the added lift offered by her ample breasts. The fabric then followed the natural curves of her small waist and flat stomach before fanning out a little after reaching her hips. The dress itself reached her knees and moves as one with the wind dancing around her bare legs much like her hair did behind her back. Long sleeves hugged her arms and the overall color shimmered in the orange hue of the sky. And in the right angle, her silhouette was like a shadow beneath the fabric itself visible while out of sight at the same time like a delicious secret on the tip of one's tongue. Her gaze landed on the tall frame of a hauntingly beautiful man sitting on the root of a large black tree whose braches spread upward like a black ripped canopy. A few ore thick roots stuck from out of the ground in a manner that would betray the tree had somewhat leaned to the side and backwards as though ripped from the place of its birth and yet the trunk was thick and sturdy and only slightly crooked.

The man's long, muscular legs stretched out before him appearing much longer due to the contrast in color from his black pants to the paleness of his skin and the dark green threads of grass brushing against his feet. He sat in a laidback position leaning the weight of his upper body into his arms which were outstretched behind him resting on a portion of the root. His head was slightly tilted upward facing the orange colored sky, the dress shirt he wore had a low and open v shaped neckline with the two edges unbound and the short, twin, thin pieces of tread loose and over his chest. And over the shirt was a thin piece of black string about 30 inches in length with a silver cross tied at the end. The latter held a simple design and was around 4,5cm in width and 10 in length, a smooth surface and an inner design of a simply drawn second cross in the very middle that reached either one of the four edges of the cross's main body; each of these ending in small triangles. It was a design she immediately recognized.

Strands of pure black silk relished in the freedom provided by the wind while long bangs caressed his face accentuating the blue hue of his eyes. The tips of his bangs easily passed his nose. His mature and hardened features were completely relaxed as he stared forward towards the heavens and, despite the presence of the small moustache and light beard covering his face, the subtle hint of a content smile shone through. Seras starred drinking in the imposing sight of the figure he embodied: the distant and surreal, almost untouchable appearance of a regal person, a true prince of Wallachia. And an ideal so far out of reach, yet so close to perfection at the same time that it would be a sin in itself no to want to reach it. Glorious….

"The light of day." Even the very sound of his voice shaped that image of perfection. "That time too, it was sunlight like this. The scene of my death was always here. And I always try to remember, if the sunlight," his head slowly turns to face her and the shift in position changed the way the wind danced trough his hair surrounding and caressing his face. His eyelids were heavy and dropped like a curtain on a stage over his hauntingly beautiful blue eyes. No pain, no war, no bloodshed, battles or betrayal. No more struggling with the world upon his shoulders….just free. Just….himself as she's never seen before.

"Was ever this beautiful." His gaze then shifted back to the valley outstretched before him.

The first step was the hardest, willing her legs to move and walk over the soft green blanket…reach for the magnificent Greek statue living and breathing before her unworthy immortal eyes. The many strands of grass trickled her bare feet, each step bringing her closer to her goal, each step elegant and silent almost like gliding with the soles of her feet never quite touching the ground.

The king's gaze never shifted a second time, never faltering from the sight of the sunset before him. Not until a very light weight settled on his right knee, nothing more than a very light brush of her fingers against the dark fabric of his pants. Full crimson eyes starred up at him, warm and gentle, eyes that were accompanied by a sincere smile painted on full rosy lips.

Seras sat on the grass between his outstretched legs with her own legs tucked beneath her and to the left as both her right side and front faced him. Her dress fanned out around her body like the petals of a delicate flower opening for the first time. She had her right hand in her lap while the left continued to wander soothingly over his right knee. The warlord shifted slightly leaning forward causing several strands of black hair fell forward over his shoulders in the process. The moment passed them in silence before the king pulls his legs back, the heals moving beneath the body of the root and passing the shadow it cast, and takes Seras's left hand from his knee with his right bringing it up to his lips like a true gentleman. They brush the back of her hand with a gentle tenderness hardly ever seen in the ruthless vampire he was become. For a moment the blue of his eyes turns blood red and crimson falls upon crimson as he smiles grinning. The moments, however, was not to last and the human resurfaced. With the utmost care he helps her up patiently waiting for her legs to get into position before standing up himself and helping her up the rest of the way. His long muscular legs propel him forward with ease and by the time they stand together face to face the crown of her head barely reached the upper part of his chest and the line of his clavicle bones. He continues to hold her tiny hand in his drawing small circles over her knuckles with the pad of his thumb. Her hand was so small, delicate in comparison.

"Bine ai venit." He purrs whispering the words with pride while never breaking eyes contact. His voice was hoarse and deep surrounding her like a blanket. Seras looks on, a blush staying her cheeks ever since his lips had touched her hand grazing her flesh in a tender feathery touch. The blush only intensified from the intense look he was giving her setting her blood on fire. It was a small wander what a simple look could do. The kiss was barely felt, yet very intimate considering the manner in which it had taken place. Then he spoke, the tone of his voice so utterly delicious as he welcomed her into his world yet again while sharing with her of the more personal and private memories of his life: the place of his death.

She waits until his gaze drops to their joined hands before taking that one step closer erasing the remaining distance between them and leaning her forehead against the middle of his chest just above the opened neckline of his dress shirt. She returns his gesture by squeezing his hand back after which her other hand reaches up his right hand, her fingers trailing over his chest, until she reached the cross dangling form his throat and takes hold of it. Her fingers spread wide in their journey upward along his chest feeling the shape of his muscles ever so slightly beneath the soft fabric of his white shirt. Even if she were to stand on her tows her head would not pass the base of her throat.

She breaths in deep basking in the familiarity and comfort of his scent. The beat of his heart was strong and powerful like thunder against her palm and ears as it reverberated through his ribcage.

"Bine te-a…m ga…sit." She whispers softly in return after a long sigh allowing the wind to carry her voice off in the distance. She only got first word right having heard it before from his own lips, but the rest came with a bit of difficulty as her mind struggled to remember a language she had once mastered just for him. And that wasn't as easy. Yet regardless of her mistake Vlad smiles proudly at the play of words he'd not heard in a long time; words that proved somewhat of a challenge when spoke out loud for the first time after being forgotten almost entirely. What truly mattered was that she remembered even if it was only a little.

"Te-am găsit." He offers her guidance in correcting her mistake. Speaking with him repeating the words a second time felt so much better, as though walking in his footsteps in a sandy beach. The words fell into place so much easier. More so the feel of his hands around in the aftermath of those words as he wrapped his free arm around her middle resting his open palm on her lower back.

"Touch is so different, is it not?" he whispers hoarsely rubbing small circles over her back. At the same time he lets go of her left hand and cups the left side of her face instead, his palm swallowing her cheek completely as he gently tilts her chin upward with his thumb leaning in. "O singură atingere şi eşti a mea. Caldă, moale, temurând sub degetele mele. Neajutorată în faţa voinţei mele."

Seras's blush intensified at the smoldering look reflected back in those pools of pure, dark ocean water and the sinful promise hidden behind the true meaning of his words; meaning she didn't quite understand. Still, the way he spoke and the tone he used were enough to help her understand. Her body was at his mercy and the mercy of his left hand as it slowly moved up and down her lower back bringing her closer and molding her perfectly against him. He then moves his hand to the side, the length of his arm encasing her waist completely, and he trails his fingers upward along her opposite side until thumb teasingly brushed the underside of her right breast.

"How badly do you want it?" his voice is suddenly breathing heavily against her left ear whispering sin and she's utterly failed to notice the movement of his body while leaning in. She's been too caught up in everything else he was doing.

His breath was burning hot against her skin sending her already heightened senses into a frenzy. Her eyelids drop becoming half lidded as her lips involuntarily part with a beautiful sigh. A sigh that then turns into a surprised gasp when she's suddenly pulled forward and down and finds herself straddling his left leg, her knees hitting the rough bark of the branch. Her exhale prequels the sound of his amused chuckle and her thighs clench tightly around his own, her body trembling in his embrace at the sudden feel of his left hand resting on her right thigh and his right around her back supporting her. He'd switched positions so easily it left her once again completely in the dark. The one thing that didn't change was the feel of his mouth against the shell of her left ear with his lips now trailing downward along the length of her throat.

She had her knees touching the bark and her heels suspended in mid air, her toes alone still touching the ground buried in the long strands of green grass. And thought the root was harsh and scrapped her skin it wasn't enough to draw blood.

The rest of her dress hung loosely on either side of her legs exposing a little more than half her thighs to his gaze, the left more than the right as Vlad's right hand trailed upward moving along the outer side of her thigh in a slow and teasing manner pushing the fabric of her dress further aside and exposing more and more milky white flesh to the elements and the gentle caress of the wind around them.

Seras didn't breath, she didn't need to. And yet in that moment there she felt as though starved for breath; her lungs burning and in pain to the point where she was forced to open her mouth and take in that much needed breathe of fresh air. She inhaled sighing softly against the side of his face as he playfully nipped her skin with his blunt teeth before smiling against her skin at the reaction he caused.

The prick of her nails against his upper right biceps was barely felt as she held onto him and despite the tiny amount of blood caused by the five distinct puncture marks he said nothing as her fingers clamped on his upper arm a second time.

His hand kept moving until he found the subtle curve of her hip and the lace fabric of the strap of her underwear. Watching her reactions was a sinful pleasure as she still trembled within his grasp from that one simple touch: the movement of his hand trailing up and down her skin along her thigh.

She was so helpless and continued to give into his touch more and more, her eyes closing completely and head tilting to the side to give him more room once a deep and rugged murmur left his throat vibrating through his chest in the form of a subtle purr like that of lion happily awaiting to devour his pray. Everything he'd told her was true: she was warm as her body was intimately pressed up against him, soft and pliant to his touch. So trusting and so responsive. Glorious…

"Have you forgotten this touch draculina?" he asks seemingly making fun of her from the amused tone of his voice, yet nothing of the sort was actually taking place. It wasn't amusement, but pleasure in her response and curiosity in the desire to see what else he could make her remember. The tips of his human teeth grazed the column of her throat matching the rhythm of his hand. They were blunt and perfectly straight except for the small protrusions that were his canines which tackled her skin a bit harder than the his incisors. It was almost like a game.

"Nu…" she whispers hoarsely baring her throat out even more, pushing it against her mouth and tightening the hold her legs had on his thigh. His chuckle fills her ears yet again and the wind began to pick up around them.

"Yes…" he purrs biting down on the juncture of her throat and shoulder and then trailing his mouth back up to the underside of her jaw purposely exhaling deeply against shell of her ear. His lips curl sensually as though ready to bite down and sink his fangs into her.

"Who are you now?" the moment her words pass her lips everything stops and the subtle upward curl of his lips falls. Even his grip on her hip looses a bit. It's a simple question and the words softly spoken without a hint of malicious intent, but they still stung if only a little.

"A fragment…" he whispers truth in her ear holding nothing back. He leaves his head buried in her silken stardust hair enjoying the warmth of her sun caressed skin and her scent.

"Why touch me?" when he could no longer bare it before.

"Because time passed." _For me, time passed. It healed…at least a part. _"And I have missed the feel of you pressed up against me my draculina. In time I learned." _Not to fear. _

"Hold me tighter." She can't help but whisper breathlessly against his left ear brushing her own lips against the shell, clutching the small silver object in her hand and using it to pull on the black string and bring him closer. The warlord complies curling his right arm tighter around her middle and gently pushing her shoulders forward to imprison her in his strong embrace. Seras drops her head onto his shoulder with a soft and content sigh basking in the feel and warmth of his strong body and broad shoulders.

"Do not fear little one." His tone is husky and deep and incredibly soothing. Her head turns fitting perfectly in the crook of his neck. "When the light fades." He then whispers and the strength of the wind began pushing against Seras's back with far more force. Silver and black mixed together in a beautiful symphony. The sky was darkening, the warm orange glow of the sunset fading behind rising shadows in the distance swallowing up the horizon. It's at that moment that Seras breaks from his embrace turning her head to peer over her right shoulder witnessing the last rays go down and darkness taking over overflowing onto the meadow below.

"And devastation comes before death." He whispers hoarsely against her skin sending a definite chill down her spine. She doesn't have time to reply seeing as he quickly leans in an unexpected kiss she doesn't see coming. He tenderly grazes her bottom lip with his teeth sucking on it afterwards and coaxing her mouth to open and deepen the kiss. His mouth then trailed along her upper lip almost brazenly as he followed her silent request and tilted his head parting his lips at the same time. Both the draculina's arms wrap themselves around his throat the very next moment leaving his shirt behind and entangling into his long, wavy, raven hair. The right however, never let go of the cross despite sinking in the black mass just like the first.

The kiss breaks to the sound of thunder roaring in the distance and lightning flashing whipping the sky.

"Seras…" he calls and his nails threaten to pierce the silken supple flesh of her thigh as well as the curve of her hip. He doesn't removed his mouth form her skin and as he speaks she felt the tell tale signs of his canines growing and sharpening; fangs appearing. His eyes were bared by the wind moving his black hair, yet had she looked there was no doubt in her mind they would have once again turned a deadly crimson.

"Yes?" she replies so silently it's as if she's afraid of answering. Her shoulders trembled so sensually, such a beautiful response.

_**"Drink the blood." **_

Fangs sink in deep, but screams in the distance fill her ears and the scent of blood fills her lungs.

Seras gasps loudly her eyelids shooting open in the dark room of the church. The pattern of the ceiling comes to life once again meeting her gaze; all the cracks she'd memorized earlier coming into view. Her very first instinct was to sit up and search for the boy, but as soon as her body reacquainted itself with the weight of his body on top of her the frantic feeling slowly subsided. The warmth was soothing against her skin, the weight comforting over her body, the silken hair soft between her fingers and the rhythmical beat of his heart and breathing the same silent lullaby. He was still sound asleep and undisturbed as though nothing had actually happened and yet she could feel the very subtle change within his mind that had lured her in subside until it vanished entirely. The two personalities were still clashing together, but close to ending the issue altogether.

A deep and compelling desire to save and shield him from a world that already broke him to pieces and forged a monster out of him filled her; a strong unyielding fire taking shape deep within her soul. Her grip on him tightens, both the arm around his middle as well as the one nestled in his hair. The crimson in her eyes darkened glowing in the darkness like two amber coals freshly taken from a fire, her fangs elongated slowly as she tilted her head back into the pillow sighing in a hushed and held back tone.

He still slept so peacefully…

One by one three of the five fingers of her right hand found three new scars on his back to follow, 3 long perfectly shaped scars several cm in length on top of many other broken ones born in a sea of blood and suffering. The pattern was almost diagonal from the curve of his right hip to the middle of his back and despite the bandages she could still make them out enough to expertly trace them. Her hand moved pushing the fabric of his shirt up in the process and her sharp nail almost pierced the bandages when he moved without warning embracing her tighter yet again. His right leg pushed into the mattress and his grip on her chest increased securing his prized toy form those who would dare take it away. He sighs breathing deeply and burring his face further into the inner side of her left breast holding her close.

Seras's fingers flexed and relaxed against his skin as though still contemplating the need to break open the skin and let the scent of his blood fill her nose.

_Drink the blood…_

Oh but which blood? That was the biggest question. It would take so little, barely a scratch, the shattering of innocent flesh. One mm at a time and he wouldn't even feel it if she did it right. It was so tempting. She wanted to drink, she wanted it so bad. She almost went through with it, almost breaking his skin open, when the sound of his voice found her ears anew and his lips parted brushing against her breast as he began breathing through his mouth and not his nose any longer. The puff of warm air was what ultimately saved him.

"Shhh…" she murmurs softly brushing a few strands of ebony hair from the side of his face. She forced her eyes shut relaxing her fingers until she was able to spread them wide over the middle of his back without any more thoughts of blood in the back of her mind.

With a deep breath she calms herself and her when her eyes reopen the crimson of her irises is no longer as maddening and intense, but soft and calm.

In the end the scent and taste of his blood wasn't really worth the price of waking him up from his peaceful and dreamless dreams. The sleep she would continue to guard.

Hours had passed and the still the tell tale signs of the upcoming dawn eluded the hungry vampire. By now Seras was pacing back and forth agitated and irritated, her appearance somewhat disheveled with her crimson shirt barley buttoned up under her chest exposing her the lace beneath and the curves of her breasts and her black leather pants hugging her hips low. She had no socks, boots or gloves and her silver hair moved flawlessly like a thin veil behind her while the beautifully crafted medieval cross dangled over her chest and was no longer tied around the boy's wrist. Her irises were set aflame and her sharp teeth grinding against each other. Her fangs hurt dying to sink in deeply into hot supple flesh writhingly against her mouth in a vain effort to escape her grasp as rich, warm blood filled her mouth sliding down her th…

The draculina curses shutting her eyes and stifling her moan as she tilted her head back for a moment imagining the taste and warmth of flesh blood. She needed to drink she couldn't hold it in any longer. There were five heartbeats all driving her mad with their silent call _thumb…thumb…thumb_…all asleep and so easy to just rip out and drink…let the blood wash down and coat her throat and fill her belly with its warmth.

Another curse echoes silently in the room accompanied by a low resonating growl.

She had to get out. She had to or she would end up doing something _**bad**_.

.

.

.

"Walter help me." The sudden sound took the half asleep teen by surprise as he lazily played with the small infant he held in his left arm. Since she was so small she easily fit in the cradle of his arm. Ever since waking several minutes earlier her large eyes were intently focused on her father's fingers moving in front of her face as if dancing. One of her tiny hands was attempting to touch them, yet he evaded her each time she got too close earning a tony smile and a giggle from her as she kicked her legs against his forearm.

His face, once soft and relaxed shining with fatherly pride, turned dead serious as his blue eyes focused of the shape of the figure lurking in the dark of the room by the closed door. Flowing white hair was the first thing he noticed before the rest of Seras's body came into view as stepped forward taking one step at a time without as much as a sound until she reached the footboard of the bed. Sharp microfilm wires surrounded her tightening their grip as she walked. They sank in deep into her skin, but didn't break it open just yet. Seras growls baring her fangs and pushing through the restraints challenging the resistance of the wires and his right hand against her own strength. Little by little they began to cut at her skin and shirt.

"Seras?" it was Integra's voice in the end that broke through the tension suffocating the room and had the angel and vampire tear their gaze from another. As she pushes herself up on her elbow having formerly rested down her stomach with her arms under the pillow, the blanket falls form her back revealing white thin strapped undershirt.

"I need to feed." Everything happed so fast even the angel couldn't react fast enough. One min she was there held captive by his wires and the next she had crossed the room coming up behind Integra and pressing her nose into the back of her neck.

"Master feed me." Her touch alone sent shivers down her spine wakening each and every pore of her body to the additional influence of the sensual tone she was using. Integra gasped startled by the sudden contact and the feel of her breath fangs against her skin. Her back arched involuntarily and with it her heart beat increased. Clawed hands brushed against her upper arms moving in a slow ascending pattern caressing her skin as her tongue trailed up along the column of her throat on the right side.

"Please feed me." She purrs into her right ear like a large cat ready to strike making the heat almost unbearable. Integra's pupils went wide becoming fully dilated as if high on the best drug in the world without any of the side effects. Her breathing quickened and the rise and fall of her chest intensified, the intervals increasing in frequency. Whether she meant it or not, the vampire's influence was beyond dominating and sensual. She held the utmost control.

"Let me go Seras." The knight demands, but her voice ultimately fails her midsentence. What should have been a controlled and swift demand turned into a breathless plea, her shoulders trembling.

"Let me feed." Seras replies in a sinful tone grazing the fragile skin of her throat with her fangs almost kissing the side of her throat.

/I'm starving…/ she projects biting her without actually sinking her fangs and drawing blood.

"Walter take her." Integra breaths with a gasp at the feel of Seras's mouth clamping down on her throat fearing the bite that never came. She was being played and neither of them could act against the starving vampire. Walter can only look on despite the completely tensed position of his body and the readiness of his muscles to move him should the need arise. He's on his edge and the fact that he still had the baby in his arms proved of little importance; he would strike despite having to carry her.

Integra's back arches further, chest rising and straining against the fabric of her undershirt as the vampire's slow movement guide her into tilting her head back more and more. Sinful fingers push the strap of her right shoulder tracing its elegant curve and breaking her voice more and more.

"Take her now. Anywhere….just do….it."

As soon as the approval tone in his voice leave her mouth the intensity of the draculina's touch diminishes allowing her to relax and her breath to relax.

"I'll be good, I promise." Seras affirms locking searing red eyes ablaze with hunger and desire with the cool yet quite focused gaze of the angel in front of her as she peers over Integra's shoulder. Her fangs linger over the knight's jugular close to piercing it, the perfume of her blood a forbidden delicacy. He in turn holds the intensity of her gaze before agreeing and gently lowering the baby onto his pillow in his place. It's at this point that Seras immediately releases her hold on her pray stepping away form the bed, smirking and waiting. Freed form her captor Integra falls back down on the bed on her elbow breathing quite heavily and her skin on fire. The slightest touch could send her over the edge and as soon as Walter reaches out to make sure she's fine, she draws back form it afraid of it might bring.

"Go already."

They do, Seras's powers encircling both her and the angel and taking them away leaving Integra alone with the child to a second prison she cannot escape form. The sort of release and peace her body now needed could not come from the cold of an empty room but the heat of a demanding touch.

.

.

The chill of the cold night air hits both Walter and Seras as they reaper on top of roof overseeing an active nightclub on the other side of the street. The loud music of the club filled the streets resonating all around. Snow fell from the sky covering their shoulders and hair with ease fairly quickly. The shadows retract entirely reforming their clothes entirely shielding them from the bitter cold.

"No victims Seras." Walter tells her folding his arms over his chest in an effort to conserve some of his body heat. He knew far to well the limits a starved vampire could hold onto. She may not kill at first, but the hunger would surely push her to it once the first drops of blood touched her lips. Which is why he had her bring them here; where the temptation of innocent blood could not find her. For that would surely send her over the edge in her hunger. It would be far too close of a call to have her feed anywhere else. The people here were far too drunk by the end of the night to even realize what happens around them.

"Maybe one." Seras defiantly replies turning into shadows allowing the wind to carry then both down. Her chuckle was all that remained lingering in the night air. Music drowned the many muffled screams, moans or sighs her victims made under the protective shadows in the more concealed corners of the club. Each one was so easy to lure in: a glance, a touch, a word….they were all such easy pray. All of them fell one after another. The very last of these was a young woman barely in her twenties with shoulder log red hair and deep green eyes, her body laid out over the matters of a bed in one of the back rooms of the club. Her eyes were glazed over and her senses all on fire; she was at the mercy of the vampire feeding from her and didn't even know it. All her mind was capable of picking up was the weight partially settled over her body and the intense pleasure it brought her. Her head was tilted back as the draculina's serpentine tongue trailed up her throat lapping up some of the blood she'd drawn form the multiple bite marks she inflicted. Then, just as she was about to turn her head and look at her assailant, a pair of black tendril encased her body pinning her more securely to the mattress: one around her middle and the other around her legs in a steal grip. Heat and pleasure coursed through her blood stream at the foreign yet highly erotic touch of the vampire's fangs across her skin and pulse point forcing her to bare her throat time and time again as broken moans pass her lips.

/Bare your throat to me./ Seras whispers in her mind purring the words while grazing her skin with her fangs ready to bite down. The cry is never heard due to the loud music resonating through the club.

Seras drinks deeply and greedily while allowing one cold hand to trial over the woman's body along her sides, abdomen and chest like a lover enflaming her blood further. Her sharp and elongated nail threatened to pierce her skin and break it open along the length of her arms. The woman's breathing became hard and elaborate. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head from the intense sensation coursing through each and every fiber of her being. Her very soul was on the line and her body becoming weaker and weaker. She would have reached nirvana happily dying without a care in the world at that point, but the vampire stopped before taking more than a few good gulps of blood; before draining her dry.

"Your bed is warm and you'll go home." She purrs into he woman's ear and clouded mind as her tongue licks up the remaining blood spilled after the retraction of her fangs sealing all of the marks without leaving one single scar or blemish. "Those you have met you will forget and you will never come here again. Go home to your child."

As she pulls away she removes the tendrils holding the woman down and distances herself from the bed watching as the woman slowly regained consciousness. She only turns around when the sound of the door of the room opens and Walter steps in walking up until he's by her side. His hands were in his pockets and the scarf still wrapped around his throat. He too watched as the woman stood up from the bed on her own, a misty and glazed look in her eyes and clearly oblivious to everything and everyone around her. She began walking on her own like a sleepwalker just risen from his bed and she would do as the sensual voice had told her to do.

Seras kept the image of a small blond boy with the same green eyes in her mind a moment longer softly smiling despite the blood on her lips, but let it go as soon as the door closed behind the woman leaving her and the raven haired teen alone in the room.

"Someone could have seen you." he tells her in a scolding tone as he gazes across the room to the sight of the two other men she had fed from and to whom she had not been as _merciful_. They weren't dead, but in not as good a health as the woman either. It would take them far more time and effort to be normal again.

"I took care of it, didn't I?"

"By letting her go? Your master would not have been as careless."

"No," she agrees suddenly grinning and looking over her left shoulder to him. "He would have had more fun. A lot more fun." She then laughs genuinely amused by her own words.

"Shall I tell him then?" Walter questions crushing her back to his chest without warning by wrapping his right arm around her middle. "How you feed?" his mouth almost brushes the side of her throat as he speaks, but the gesture is not intimate enough to be considered a kiss. "The pleasure you provoke." His right cheek moved up along her pulse point as his voice turned dark and dangerous matching the look in his narrowed blue eyes she couldn't see. His lips curl into a knowing smile as his breath caresses the shell of her ear.

"Tell me," he pauses. "How badly do you want _his_ blood?" Before asking the question and hitting the nail on the coffin.

"Why?" Seras questions in return tilting her head and neck away from him and distancing her throat form the warmth of his breath.

"Because you and I both know it's what you really want. What you truly crave." He replies burring his head into her snow white hair and pressing his mouth directly over the shell of her ear once again. Bit by bit Seras's own lips curl in a beautiful smile of her own as soon as he finishes his sentence.

"What do you want?" she asks and Water's chuckle resonates in her ear.

Oh but it was a good night to be a vampire.

.

.

A light nock in the window divert the young mother's attention from her sleeping child to it as she slowly sits back up carefully searching the room for anything out of place. It hadn't been more than over an hour since Seras and Walter's departure, yet she hadn't gone back to sleep. She couldn't.

Finding nothing she as just about to lie back down when something scratched the glass of the window catching her full attention yet again, but when she quickly turned to look there was nothing there. A second passes, then two then….

She gasps as a hand suddenly clamps over her mouth forcing her back onto the mattress and pinning her down. Silvery white hair cascades around either shoulder as he blue eyes lock on crimson.

Seras hovered over her on all fours grinning like mad before quickly removing her hand from over her mouth and replacing it with her lips in a heated kiss the knight could not break. Her hands held both her wrists down while her knees were on either side of her hips. There was no trace of blood on the vampire's lips as she continued the kiss and her fangs threatened to break her lips open each time they moved against them. Integra was helpless to do nothing more than attempt resistance as the same uncontrolled, burning desire was rekindled within her soul plummeting her over the edge once again.

"Master I've fed." Seras breaths in gratitude against her lips after breaking the kiss. Fangs nip the knight's skin leaving thins small pinkish scratches over it.

"I'm sorry but they had to die."

Integra's eyes narrow at the statement and she pushes Seras away from her with the little strength she has. "I was still good, but they had to die." It wasn't necessarily true, but she didn't really need to know that. It made things so much more interesting. Fun and distracting because a lot more happened that night than the knight was meant to know.

"Get off me Seras don't you dare bite me. Do not." She demands forcing her weak body to obey and her voice to be strong.

Instead of immediately answering Seras pricks her skin over her Adam's apple drawing the smallest amount of blood possible and lapping it up with a swipe of her tongue from the bite mark to the underside of her jaw. "It's not your place to love me…" she whispers.

Seras chuckles out loud bringing her head directly over her and letting her lips hover mm form Integra's. She smiles but the smile soon turns into a full blown smirk as she purrs.

"Agreed."

Then suddenly and without warning she vanishes in a cloud of mist and the room goes eerily silent. It takes her a moment once her breathing returns to normal to notice that one small sound missing: Margo's breathing.

Turning to the child she found nothing but an empty bed. Panicky seizes her prompting her to get up and out of the bed at a frantic pace. If Seras was back than it could only mean than he was back as well.

"Walter!" she barely has time to utter his name before she's shoved up against the wall by the bed by yet another dark and forceful figure. The touch however is different: strong and rough, possessive yet careful at the same time as fingerless gloves touch the bare skin of her upper arms before sliding down her sides and going beneath the hem of her undershirt around her lower back; the kiss no longer that of a woman.

Her right hand is immobilized above her head, the left around broad shoulders covered in a loose and partially damp and cold shirt from the snow and her legs forced to curl around a narrow waist as she's easily lifted up in a strong embrace.

"Yes?" the angel of death questions in a low husky tone after breaking the heated kiss. The blue of his eyes appears almost dark violet in the dark of the room. They hold nothing of the man before her and everything of the so called 'monster', Hellsing's avenging angel she'd heard stories of while growing up; the same monster that gave her a child.

The sigh alone had her legs clamp around his waist a little harder pulling him closer like a lamb willingly offering itself to the wolf.

"What are you doing?" she breaths against his lips as the latter only offers a smirk and bend his head forward to the underside of her jaw.

"You've forgotten…" he tell her hoarsely trailing his lips up along the same path Seras had not a few moments earlier. "You always remember the monsters under your feet, but never the one you let into your bed. And I have to settle a score." The harshness of his words has Integra tense in his embrace as he pins her further to the wall and brings his mouth over to her right ear. "Have I displeased you so that you will no longer be unrestrained around me? Are you that frightened?"

"You deserve punishment." The knight replies sternly forcing dominance above lust.

"Why?" Walter bites down on the juncture of her throat next to her shoulder and the frail squeak in her voice return; the same he'd not heard since taking her that first night together and unlike a vampires' teeth his held no danger of irreparably damaging her skin or loosing oneself to bloodlust.

"You gave in too quickly." Integra's words hit him like ice cold water meant to brutally wake the insane. The hold on her throat decreases and she takes it as a sign to continue. It was her time to hotly whisper into his ear." Because you never fought me for it. What kind of monster listens to everything his master commands?"

"I see." Walter replies relishing in the taste of her skin a second time. "Then I will have you know my place."

.

.

To sleep was a beautiful privilege the young prince had not experienced in a very long time. He drifted between the worlds while still resting on his stomach with the blanket drawn up over his back to his shoulder blades and both arms beneath his pillow hugging it. His head lay on the left side left and his lips were still parted despite him breathing through his nose once again. Seras's departure hadn't disturbed him once; she'd made sure of it. And as he didn't notice a thing then, he didn't now as well when a hand seemed to approach him form the shadows of the room. Daylight breaking allowed some of the very first rays of sunlight to seep through the crack in the curtain covering the window. Twin pools of blood watched him sleep as more matching red liquid dripped to the floor as she walked only to be swept up by a lingering thin shadow emerging from the soles of her feet. Many other rivulets carved paths along her arms and the fabric of her clothes before slowly retracting and disappearing absorbed into her body. Residual mark stained her silver hair as well, but the se were not fading as the rest as she stooped next to the bed by his side to examine her right hand and the blood lingering upon it. She turns her hand over and over as though deciding whether or not to touch him.

No, she smiles, her lips stained red, lowering her hand. She would not insult the peace of his sleep with blood. He'd had enough of that many times over. Thus, lowering her hand she brought up the left to his right cheek carefully brushing the back of her fingers against it and then brushing the long strands of his bangs from his temple around his ear. Despite returning with Walter she left a second time soon after returning at a later hour. The night hadn't gone all that good for her; the meal not nearly as satisfactory as she would have hoped.

"Master…" she whispers against his ear keeping her tone of voice low before brushing her lips against the soft cartilage. The prince's eyelids stirred as if waking, yet he continued to sleep. Seras's lips moved downward caressing his cheek and the underside of his jaw nuzzling it softly as she crouched by the side of the bed and sought out his throat pushing a few more strands out of the way. His pulse quickened ever so slightly beneath her touch as though sensing she was there.

"Seras…" her name spills from his lips like honey from a cup prompting him to wake and open his eyes, but the alluring pull of the warm bed was stronger keeping him in place.

"Sleep my little one." She tells him with a kiss on the cheek and a last tender caress of her fingers before getting up and heading towards the bathroom. A small bundle of shadows remained in the room next to the foot of the bed and from the cradle like structure meant to hold the tiny baby within. The deal included her watching over the small child for a little while.

.

.

"Father Patrick." a young man with short chocolate brown hair and dark eyes like grey emeralds calls out one last time dumping his bag from to the floor next to his left leg and taking the second on over his right shoulder off and throwing it over the empty armchair in the living room. The small church was quite and no one answered his call. It was passed nine in the morning and the sun was up and shining brightly.

Sighing, the young man makes his way across the room heading towards the staircase and the old priest's room. The door to his room was ajar and he simply walked in calling out his name without raising his voice to high. The letter he'd got from him inform of possible guests staying with the old man and not to disturb them. Stepping inside he paid no real attention to the dark room itself noticing only that the door to his office was wide open but the one to the bathroom was ajar and barely open much like the first door had been. He knew from experience the old lock of the door never properly kept the door closed and Paddy himself had never bothered to get it fixed. It was just him most of the time so why bother with useless intimacy issues? The sound of water hitting the tiles reached his ear making him think the shower was on for a moment, but it wasn't consistent enough with the sound of many water droplets hitting the floor at high speed all at the same time and more like water coming out of a faucet. Thus he moved forward thinking the old man had probably fallen asleep in the tub again and forgot the water running. The light wasn't even on…typical…He'd probably have to wake him up first and then help him out of the tub.

"Paddy? Did you fall asleep again?" he calls out pushing the door open with his right hand and stepping over the threshold without a second thought only to stop dead in his track not a moment later at the sight before. Raising his gaze after pushing the door aside he came face to face with the running shower and the flawless pale skin of a girl with long snow white hair beneath it. Both the faucet on the sink as well as that of the bath were running, tendrils of water floating in mid air snaking their way around the bathroom from one corner to the other, yet all stopped abruptly once he stepped in. Only the shower remained on as Seras turned to peer over her left shoulder in a very slow and deliberate fashion, the crimsons of her eye dark and vibrant as she stared back at him. Her long white was as perfectly molded to her back offering her a small amount of protection and privacy since it reached as low as the upper part of her thighs. She hadn't paid attention to anything around her and allowed her powers to spread through the room playing with the water around her. It was a small challenge to remember all of the things she could do and everything her powers could allow her to do. She heard the footsteps and felt the new presence as soon as he first entered the kitchen, but it had been so insignificant at the time she let it slip passed. He did not feel threatening.

Yet hearing him gasp after entering the room prompted her eyes to snap open and meet his gaze with a deadly cold stare that froze him in his place. The sole light in the room came from the small square window on the wall to her left, but due to her keeping her head down it didn't help illuminate the majority of her features. With it she looks absolutely demonic despite the otherwise angelic appearance of her face and it was enough to rip all other thoughts he might have had about her appearance from his mind. The scent of fear leaked from him as soon as ration took over and the instinct to survive was triggered.

Seras's lips curled back as a result, fangs emerging from beneath her upper lip in a intimidating manner. The grin lasted for about a second before the amusement in her eyes at his reaction died and the all too familiar cold stare returned.

"**Get out**." She demands in a very low and threatening tone bordering on falling into deep anger. He'd walked in on her and she wouldn't stand for it. A black tendril emerged from under her right foot sticking at him and breaking the tiles over his left shoulder like a whip, yet without touching him directly. Her left arm then transformed and the resulting shadows touched the floor crawling along it and heading straight for him.

"Now then?" Paddy's voice echoes through the kitchen as he himself, Walter and Integra and the baby step out of the basement. "Shall we have breakfast?" their business concluded, it seemed the proper course of action.

Integra carried Margo, after her father had gone to fetch her half an hour prior, as she walked passed the old priest taking a seat at the table and readjusts the baby's position within her arms. There had been so sign of the draculina just the boy sleeping in his bed. "Yes, it would be nice to partake in something familiar." As she speaks her eyes never leave the teen beside and her accusatory tone only emphasizes the true meaning of those very words. He in turn only smiles as he walks over to her and the leans over the table placing his left hand on its surface before whispering.

"My darkest secrets have secrets. This is barely scratching the surface."

"How lovely." She counters blue eyes clearly narrowed in displeasure. She despised being pushed aside and deprived of information when she should have known _the truth_ about this place from the start. She, as Alucard's master, should have been made aware of the coffin hidden beneath this church and its contents; especially its contents. At least she now understood more about Walter curing the so called sickness in his heart. Fucking vampires and their dammed secrets; and her damned angel as well. Hiding something so important from her all these years, the nerve of him.

"You didn't seem to mind all that much last night." Leaning in more he whispers directly into her left ear making sure those particular words remain just between them. He chuckles when done and purposely kisses her cheek as if to infuriate her further.

"Don't you dare…"

"How about pancakes and or…?"

Neither her nor the old priest get to finish their sentences when the sound of destruction reaches their ears and the room somewhat shakes as though caught in an earthquake. Neither got to do more when the sound of screaming came form upstairs, the voice belonging to what appeared to be a young man. The door to Paddy's room burst open immediately following shattering to pieces as thick spike tipped tendrils pierced it and carved a path over the wooden floor of the hallway several feet long before pulling back and ripping the remains of that same door apart. They scratched the walls, the doorframe and the floor like giant claws of a bear leaving deep marks in their wake. The young man kept screaming, the sound loosing itself amongst that of the rest of the destruction currently taking place. He barely managed to get out of the room once the tendril had retracted and fell to his knees tripping over one of the less thick one. His left upper arm bled as though cut.

"Stay here." Walter tell them in a serious tone before quickly exiting the kitchen just in time to see the black mass swallow up the right side of the second story hall; he could barely make out the silhouette and the color hair of young man.

"Shit, shit, shit!" the brown haired man curses dodging the incoming tendril heading his way seconds later and running towards the stairway. He ran ducking just as a tendril struck missing his back by mm and hitting the railing to his left shattering it. He ran yet after reaching the platform he jumps over it without a second though instead of running along the rest of the stairs. Ironically the move would have cost him his head had Walter's wires not stopped the tendril in question slicing through it and taking hold of the one immediate adjacent to it so that it could not take its place instead. This gave the young apprentice the chance to flee, but his freedom was short lived when more shadows came after him. The ones he dodged crashed into the walls, railing or furniture as if playing a game. A mere child's game.

"Damn it help me!" he cries out finally noticing Walter for the first time.

"Move it!" the latter shouts in return implicating himself in a fight that was obviously centered around the young boy alone. And he couldn't help but briefly ask himself what the hell the kid had done? "Move!"

A tendril rips through his defenses while another hits him like a fist in the stomach shoving him backwards and crushing his back into the wall of the living room next to right side of the kitchen door.

"Walter!" Integra screams backing up from the doorframe as soon as it happens. Margo bursts into a crying fit and the young man screams as he's lifted off the ground by his left leg alone and held upside down.

"What on earth…my stairs?" Paddy can only say in shock at the utter devastation of his living room and upper floor as he comes to stand next to the young mother.

"Stay there!" Walter shouts raising his voice high causing both to do as told. He moves fast despite the sever blow sustained to his back and the dust still settling. Wires slash through the body of the tendril holding the acolyte up making him fall and land with a loud thumping noise on his right shoulder. Walter jumps over him as soon as his body touches the floor and cuts thought the darkness with ease and deadly accuracy before gracefully landing on the remaining unbroken portion the railing on the platform. Unfortunately, one tendril slips passed his defenses and takes him by surprise by coming form behind and curling around right ankle just as he was about to leap for a second time. He's suddenly unbalanced by the unexpected weight settling over his left shoulder using his as leverage and a starting point for a jump of her own. All he can catch is a glimpse of white, of crimson and a bare leg, water droplets splashing in his face before her foot pushes him forward as she jumps with a lot more force that he himself was using to keep his balance. The angel stumbles forward unable to stop the momentum of his body and crashes into a post of the railing in front of him with his left upper arm before the tendril around his ankles pulls him up and, acting like a whip, strikes the floor of the living room with him as one would while swatting a fly.

Walter hits the floor hard breaking the wood, spreading dust and debris and cutting his skin open, blood gushing form his mouth once it's finally over. His leg is released as Seras's body emerges form the darkness in full view for the first time and she walks passed him as though he were nothing; her sight was focused on the teen alone and the way he was frantically attempting to crawl on his back away from her approaching form.

"Seras!" Integra shouts, the vampire lunges forward and the acolyte runs. And it all comes to a close…

The young man's back hits the wall to the left of the kitchen door as he's held up by his throat, his legs not touching the floor. Seras held him up with her right hand while both her arms and waist were heavily encased in microfilms cutting her skin and clothing. They too drew blood. The only sound in the room was that of Walter panting as he struggled to stay up on his right side, his left eyes closed due to some blood trickling down that particular side of his face, and hold the draculina down with the wires in his left hand. His fingers bled without the gloves to protect them, but it was the very least of his problems at the moment. It was quite possible that his right shoulder had been dislocated.

No one else moved. Seras smiled demonically, a dangerous and murderous smile while tightening her grip around de young man's throat limiting the amount of air he could breathe in and purposely pricking his skin with the tips of her nails with great satisfaction. Despite her petite frame and the evidently taller man she was the one who held all the power and seemed to tower over the poor mortal. Water dripped from her still wet hair and clothing while the latter only consisted of her crimson shirt with one button closed under her chest partially covering her otherwise bare torso and her black underwear. The inner swell of her breasts was clearly visible due to the rest of the shirt being completely unbuttoned both above and under her breasts as well as perfectly molded to the bare skin underneath. Her hair was wet and clinking to her back and shoulders and water dripped down her legs in thin rivulets.

The stairway was virtually ruined. The railing mostly although the stairs themselves could still be used, the walls were scarred like the back of prisoners who'd' come to know and love the tasted of the whip, the furniture was either tipped over or broken. Worse, water flooded the upper floor coming from the priest's room and the hallway dripping down over the edge.

The sound of footsteps running through water over their heads echoed loudly in the sudden silence and it was only a matter of seconds before they were greeted with the sight of the raven haired prince running down the hall and stopping at the top of the stairway, his left hand landing on the round head of the post as he peered down at the mess beneath him. His clothing was just as wet, the shirt and hair especially, and his bangs stuck to his face, water dripping from his chin.

_Flashback_

_The young man bolted from the spot as soon as the tendrils came his way fleeing for his life with adrenalin pumping though his veins and blood stream. He managed to avoid the tendril heading for his head and left shoulder which struck the doorframe and tiles in his place breaking both of them. He quickly scurried out of the bath as fast as his legs allowed, but fell face forward as one of the tendril encircled his left ankle tripping him and then letting him go. _

_The sudden violent crash his body suffered form while hitting the floor shattered the prince's peaceful sleep waking him up. Vlad jerks up in a semi seated position, confused at first until his sentences reacquainted themselves with his surroundings and the haze covering his beautiful eyes disappeared, his gaze meeting that of the utterly frightened man. The moment was broken though when a tendril struck the ground between them without mercy breaking the boards it touched in half and scarring the concrete foundation beneath making the entire room shudder under its strength. Water fell over them in the process soaking everything like a brief, warm summer rain. The acolyte was petrified, hands over his head and knees drawn up to his chest as he lay there motionless on the floor on his right side in the fetal position attempting to keep himself from getting hurt. The tendril struck with only mm to spare between himself and the vacant space on the floor it hit. His eyes barely opened reflecting a deep and powerful sense of fear that wasn't even evident in the blue eyes still starring back at him form the bed; the prince not having moved a muscle. The floor creaked as twin her eyes emerged form the door of the bathroom and the tell tale shape of a large black wolf's head peered out of the darkness swallowing the door up. Its irises glowed like ambers from hell and the growl it emitted resonated through each and every piece of furniture and boards until it reached the frightened man, a deep throated growl that seemed to encircle him and hold him prisoner. One wet front paw stepped out next, claws scratching the floor, before the second joined it and the rest of the wolf's body slowly took shape. _

_"Draculina?" Vlad calls her name, his Romanian accent heavier with sleep lingering in his voice, wiping the water droplets from his face with his left arm and getting out of the bed._

_The wolf stopped half a foot from the threshold. Instead a large clawed hand emerged from behind him before emerging out of the bathroom passing over the creature's head and reaching for the man. The latter moved and it came as a miracle as he somehow found the strength to move and fight against the paralyzing feeling in his legs refusing to stay down. The hand lunged for him and he bolted; the wolf stopped moving and Vlad's bare feet touched the wet floor. The claws nicked the acolyte's left biceps nearly colliding straight into the boy as the former jumped toward the bed in a simple sense of self preservation and then made good use of the pause in the limb's movement to dash for the half open door of the room without looking back. He'd never been so scared in all of his life._

_And he never noticed the wolf disappearing and the enraged figure of the beautiful woman steeping out of the bathroom instead._

_Flashback end_

"God damn it Seras!" Integra curses turning to Paddy and offering him the baby with a murderous look in her eyes. Walter coughs dislodging some of the dust from his lungs while pushing himself in a more comfortable position that didn't imply him needing to rest his entire weight on his wounded shoulder in order to keep the tension on the wires.

"Put him down! Put him down now!" she demands and her tone leaves no room for debate whatsoever. She walks over showing no trace of fear just anger. She almost reaches Walter's side when she speaks up.

"Why?" she hisses sounding stone cold and emotionless for one moment before her lips curl upward even more taking on a sinister expression; her grip grew tighter. "I don't like being _watched_!" Emphasizing her words she pushed him against the wall making him it with the back of his head and groan from the painful contact.

The man struggles against her hold attempting to speak, but his words were yet again cut short by the prick of her nails; her grip as strong as a noose.

"You sicken me!" She hisses baring her fangs unaware of the shift in color her irises made; the red darkening towards pitch black. "_Using him_." She adds hissing, rage flaring out with each word. She pulled against the wires holding her in place, but didn't free herself from them just yet.

"Put him down Seras." Integra tells her while the others stay silent.

"I will not be watched!" she replies cutting her off. "By him or any other fucking priest! I am not their wet dream!" she growls before removing the acolyte from the wall and throwing him across the room and into the armchair and the bag resting in it. The chair tipped over form the force of the collision. Her actions frightened the small baby further as the scream unsettled her more despite Paddy's attempts to calm her down. He had not moved form the doorframe of the kitchen.

"I did not imply you were." Integra keeps her voice as calm as possible and maintains her proud demeanor taking firm control of a situation so desperately out of hand.

"You do by demanding I put him down." She hisses.

"Christ Seras he's an insignificant insect beneath the sole of your foot. A mere whelp of a priest. Get over it!"

Seras growls baring her fangs at the statement and turning around completely to face the knight. She was beyond furious. The stupid fool had endangered the one thing she cared about. She could have struck _him_ in her anger.

"I wouldn't want this either." Integra continues walking up to her and leaving the relative safe zone of the angel's side. She gestures to him to loosen his grip, but he doesn't do it just yet. "I would not stand for it, but it is still an in…"

"How would you know?" she shouts jerking forward. She doesn't take a step or acts in any other way towards, yet the wires around her tighten once again.

"Because he's just human Seras and humans mean nothing to your master so they shouldn't matter to you. They are nothing if not a true purpose, nothing!"

The draculina shuts her eyes turning her head the other way with a loud unpleased exhale. "Listen to me Seras. Enough is enough."

"_You know __**nothing**_! Not a god damned thing." Seras tells her and the words come out with such hate it's hard to keep herself from laughing at the sheer irony they presented. Her hands ball into fists and her nails cut into her own skin drawing blood.

"A proud creature never submits to the standards of those beneath it. Alucard taught me that in his more sane moments." She smiles for a moment after coming to a stand in front of the vampire. "And we do not look down on those we walk upon. Now end this, its pointless." Her words were strong and left no room for doubt proving once again beyond a shadow of a doubt why a mere lowly human could stand to command an immortal creature of darkness.

"Fine." She hisses after a long moment of silence reopening her eyes and turning her still angry and narrowed gaze on the young mother.

"Good. Now clean this mess up. Do you understand me?"

"Yes _master_." Her eyes flash and the damage is undone in less than a few seconds rearranging everything until all traces of destruction were gone; the water on the floor included. The wires release her uncoiling from around her body and with one last look Integra leaves her heading back towards the kitchen to retrieve her daughter from the priest. She passes Walter who finally gets to his feet brushing some of the dirt and dust form his clothing and limping the first few steps before regaining his bearings completely. He shares a glance with the vampire, a fleeting look no more than a few seconds, before what appears to be regret crosses her features. The sentiment however, fades just as quickly and her body fades into nothingness.

Having taken the baby, Integra heads back to the stairs intending to head back to her room without uttering another word to those around her and only gesturing to Walter to follow her. Her breakfast forgotten she walks up the stairs rocking the still crying infant.

"Get changed." She orders passing the raven haired boy and not stopping till the door slams behind her and the angel. It made little difference when the sound only fueled the fire that was her daughter's crying. A great morning indeed.

"As you wish _my master_." The boy purrs as she passes him by making sure to keep his tone of voice low, yet loud enough for her alone to hear. His expression is as innocent as it could get from a child his age and his eyes watch from under his wet bangs as her body reacts to his answer fighting the urge to stop and give him a remark in return, but instead keeps on walking head held high.

So amusing.

The day could not have started any better.

To be continued…

.

Till next time, I'll be posting the next chapter next month and maybe, if I have the time a little sooner. I'm just swamped at work. We'll see.

Bye, and please leave me a teeny, tiny review.


	32. Chapter 32

AN. After this chapter I'm putting the rest of the story on a temporary hiatus till June-July. I had some trouble with the next chapters, I didn't like where the storyline was going so I decided to change most of the dialog and plotline and start over again. That being said most of the chapters to follow are now bits and parts I have to rewrite so it will take some time. I decided to incorporate more of Alucard's past in the story starting from chapter 29-30 and that basically changed a big part of the plot I had already thought of.

Till then, enjoy the current chapter, more SXV action.

**Chapter 26**

The door slammed shut behind the young vampire and then went on to pace around the room still upset and completely unaware of the lack of tension within the room itself. The prince was quite, only subtly smiling as he walked in the room and then went on to sit on the edge of his bed; his clothing still wet and clinging and hair just the same.

Seras was restless, her hair flowing behind her as she moved like a thin cape blowing in the wind.

"Seras." He calls her name softly after watching her turn from one corner of the room to the next pacing like a caged animal in its enclosure far too small. Hearing his voice stops her in her tracks. She pauses and tilts her head back with a loud sigh as though allowing all her anger to be washed away before dropping to the floor without another word, pulling her knees up to the chest and dropping her forehead on top of them while encircling her legs with her arms. She sits right in front of the bed with her back only two steps or so away from its edge. She became as quite as a mouse as she sat there motionless on the floor.

"Draculina." His footsteps produce little sound as he gets up and crosses the small distance placing his right hand on top of her left shoulder. The act is barely accomplished when she turns burying the left side of her face into his stomach and wrapping her arms around his hips and upper thighs mindful of his lower back. His clothing was wet and getting colder, yet made little difference and mattered even less.

"What is wrong draculina?" the prince smiles softly before asking his question and placing his right hand on top of her head caressing her hair much like she had done for him the previous night. "Seras?" his tone betrays growing concern when the light tremble which seized her shoulders is noticed and her grip tightening.

"I feel bad." She tells him keeping her voice very low and her words partially muffled by the shirt he was wearing.

Vlad laughs sketching genuine amusement. "He's only human…" he begins telling her believing she was referring to young man from before and her actions towards him. He would have said more had she not interrupted him, her tone shaking and her voice weak without a hint of a trace of the imposing and fear inducing vampire from only moments ago.

"I can't drink. I'm _sick_."

"What?" he has neither time to voice his surprise or let it spread over his face as her arms unwrapped themselves from around him and she turned to distance herself from him intending to get up and run. Yet neither happens as the sudden sickness takes over swiftly and violently grounding her in place. She barely has time to turn from him before over half a pint of blood is forced out of her stomach causing her to double over and loose whatever small amount of blood she still had over from her nightly meal. It was happened again, she was unable to hold the smallest amount of blood down.

Blood stained the floor and her left hand as she unsuccessfully brought it up to her mouth to stop the flow; it just passed through her fingers undeterred and did not stop until a good sized pool of blood marred the floor in front and around her. Her stomach was completely empty and her body weakening by the second she stood like a statue surrounded by blood which should have been a pool of water. Her legs were held together, knees slightly bent and drawn up, she leaned her entire weight on her right arm which helped hold her up in a seated position. Her left arm destabilized turning black, yet without loosing its entire couture though small tendrils began emerging from it. And when her hand finally drops from her mouth with a loud sigh, the spasm in her body subsiding, crimson stains her mouth and drips from the cradle of her palm and fingers. Her red eyes were glazed over and her shoulders still trembled a little.

"Explain." Te softly tells her removing the stained blanket from between them and sitting down next to her; the crimson had not seeped through to the sheet beneath. He looks on calmly and patiently.

"I get sick after I feed. It's happened before." Vlad's eyes narrow even more once the full weight of her words hits him. "Last time was before you woke here in the church, before he came a…"

"You've kept this from me." His tone hardens just a little clearly in displeasure of the fact only now brought to his attention.

"I though it would pass." She softly confesses lowering her gaze and burring her face into the cradle of her palm in shame from keeping something so important from him. She was expecting a harsh reprimand on his behalf and since it would come either way she would tell him the rest of her story.

"How many?" he asks her already anticipating the answer that would come. He nudges her knees with his own in a playful manner, not yet taking a seat next to her.

"The forest." She hesitantly tells him placing the pads of her fingers over his ribcage feeling his heartbeat. "Since you told me to run." There she pauses for a second more before continuing. "And four times now since last night after drinking…" she silently whispers as her hand drops entirely until it finds a place to rest in her lap. At the same time, she pushes against the floor with her right hand until she straightens her position so that her arm is no longer forced to support her entire weight. She answers to a question never asked, yet one that would have been. Four times now in the few hours since her last meal. The first had been at the club and took place immediately after the first taste of crimson filled her mouth, happening right under the angel's nose without him ever knowing. The second soon followed. She drank again; perhaps the first had just been a fluke. And yet it came far quicker and much more violent. The woman had been her last victim and no sooner had they returned she stained the white virgin snow in front of the church with her blood. The sickness had followed her until she couldn't hold it in any longer. And every time it happened the hunger returned craving more and demanding more. Thus she went to feed again for a third time and found her meal warming to the cold winter air and dark walls of the alley that held her prey. After that she gave up and retuned to the church, blood smearing her clothes, yet the feeling followed her as well. It did not leave her be once the blood had been removed from her system. She was sick and hungry and trapped in a vicious cycle that seemed to go on unable to stop on its own. She was so tired.

"I did not say drink." He tells her in a kind tone while kneeling beside her. He's unable to hide the slight grimace that mares his lips as he does so, the wounds stretching on his lower back.

"You did." She whispers turning her head to face him. "_He did_." She confesses lowering her head until the long bangs cover her face hiding her eyes from his. "It still hurts. You said it would continue to hurt and it has."

"Until you woke draculina." He quickly tells her searching her face. "It has been days Seras."

"I still hunger and hurt." She whispers ever so softly afraid of what would happen. Both surprise and confusion had filled her words, the latter more than the first. She'd healed and she was fine, perfect, strong and yet looking closer into those beautiful and expressive crimson eyes gazing up in both uneasiness and fear he could make out the hunger deeply buried beneath the surface.

"You don't hurt me." She whispers watching the deeply considering expression on his face disappear with that one blink of his eyes before they settle their entire attention on her. "When I took yours…_by accident_…while healing your wrist. It didn't hurt. But you can't give me your blood, it would kill you."

The prince's blue eyes darken angry and upset at his own pride and mistake, now more apparent than ever. It hurt when it shouldn't. Not anymore. She'd survived the stake and her trial, it shouldn't hurt. Not anymore.

"I did not know." He whispers reaching out to touch her head once more when she pulls away lowering her head, grimacing as her entire body tensed. Her hand shot back up to her mouth, yet nothing happened. There wasn't anymore blood for her to loose; just a residual spasm. "Whose blood did you take?"

"Humans…" she whispers lowering her hand once more before leaning in towards him on her own and resting her forehead against his stomach as his own left hand settled on top of her head. "I tried."

"Was the blood tainted draculina?" he softly asks attempting to understand.

"I think I am." Her voice barely passes as a forgotten whisper it was so quite. "I'm tired, I can't sleep."

"You don't need to watch over me little one." And through those few words he understands everything so much better. She was weak and tired and he was to blame; despite never having truly tried to do so. He used to be the one to watch over her. To scold her for not drinking it, embarrass her for being weak in the hope she would stand up. He used to be the one with power. And now he was but a child, _a human child_, who'd lost so much his identity included. "I will never be," he pauses briefly closing his eyes with a soft exhale. "Hold me no higher than what your eyes truly see. I barely stand form the ground."

"Master's not bad." Is her sole reply as her body finally relaxes entirely and a little more of her weight leans against him; her cheek buried against his stomach.

"Drink mine." He offers. If she took some before then it shouldn't be such a problem.

"I can't. She told me not to."

The prince sighs closing his eyes, eyebrows furrowing as though in anger. His lips curl in a grimace he fights to conceal and doesn't allow to get in his way.

"Drink the blood Seras."

"I can't. I'm not allowed." She tells him as his left hand cups her right cheek and hers quickly moves to follow settling over his. "It will hurt you if I do. If I drink from you and you from me, she said it could start the cycle again. She said you shouldn't have struck me as a child. It's my fault."

"What is?"

"You," she tells him. "Being like this." Her pause is long and the look within her eyes quite sad and remorseful. "And I have already given you blood. Too much."

"You healed a wrist." He says searching her eyes.

"I healed everything." She lowers her gaze whispering that one word with great caution.

"_Everything_?" he asks and a hint of suspicion as well as concern lingers in the wake of his voice.

"I didn't want…" she begins explaining only to drop the subject a moment later. Her head remains down and she says no more for a long minute before sighing loudly and finally looking up through her long white bangs. "I only left a few, but the **words** were hurting you."

It's only then that he lowers his hand from her cheek and takes a step back placing a small amount of distance between them. His eyes express concern and a slight hint of disbelieve as he tries to understand her words and then slowly brings his left arm around his side and pushes the shirt he was wearing aside. His fingers find the bandages still wrapped around him, just as he'd always felt them since waking, but the second they melted away he felt nothing other than soft warm skin without a scar or pain to be found. His lower back was free and void of any trace of the blasphemy once carved into his very flesh. And even as he slowly traced the shape of his spine upward he could find nothing on the middle of his back either. It was only his shoulders and shoulder blades that still stung and once he paid better attention to his body the fact became even clearer.

"What did you do draculina?" there was far more concern than happiness in his tone of voice.

"I put blood in the water." She replies while wiping her hands on the sides of her shirt to remove the blood from them. "Then when you were asleep. You were bleeding again and I was starving and I just wanted…I just wanted it to stop. I couldn't take it. And you told me to drink, but I couldn't take yours any other way…"

"Why not all of them?" he interrupts her chatter stopping her before her words made no sense whatsoever. She started slow at first but then went on to explain everything so fast that he felt the need to make her stop.

"You would have known." Whatever small amount of blood remained on her hands vanished absorbed into her skin. A slight shudder went over her in the process, her body reacting to the crimson despite the infinitely small amount.

"I do know." He tells her with a smile allowing a bit of amusement to fall between them. Though it was a concerning matter, he wasn't that upset with her. "And I did not ask…"

"It's not pity." Her words come long before he has the chance to finish his sentence, yet before he actually says the words altogether. "I didn't do it out of pity…"

"I burned them in the past. I tried cutting the skin, but it didn't work out that well. Fire was best." He chuckles remembering. "I think I passed out, but I'm not really sure. Still the scar was worth it, however much it hurt or however bad it looked. I owe him my life or I would have probably died from those wounds long ago. The man who shared my cell. He was my _friend_."

"He hid me…in the stairs…"

"Yes little one." His smile is genuine. "I never saw him after they took me away. He died in that room, alone and forgotten. A fate not all that bad when considering the outcome of life in that place. He at least had peace in those last final moments."

"What should I do now master?"

"Do you want my blood draculina?" He replies with a question of his own.

"Please." She whispers sounding overly tired and weak.

"You may drink." He encourages her.

"I can't." bringing her knees up to her chest she rests her forehead on top of them and wraps her arms around them. "She said not to. Elena told me…"

"Only you decide." Finally taking a seat on the floor, he turns to sit in front of her he mimics her position and sits down so that he's on her right side. His legs and arms brush against hers and his knees remain a few cm below hers.

"You decide." She replies in a low tone. "You always decide. You already did long ago. You decided everything."

"About you?"

"_About everything_." Her voice drops and he can easily tell that she says the words in anger even though her tone stays somewhat neutral. "I should have let you show me."

"But it could have been just like everything else. I could be lying right now."

"You probably are." She tells him and her lips unwillingly curl into a tiny smile that remains hidden beneath the layer of white hair and her arms.

"I used to hate you Seras, in the very beginning of it all. At first you were interesting as you defied death, then you became a disappointment not drinking your blood and interacting with humans as though you were still one of them despite belonging to me. But then disappointment turned curious and very interesting, you were still refusing and yet you were so strong. It was intriguing. Then I left and 30 years helped you blossom and slowly things changed. And I started hating you again for the freedom you had and I did it because you made me _feel_ more and more. Even simple hatred or indifference towards you is feeling something I learned to push away. I struggled all my life not feel. Others can't hurt you if you feel nothing for them or towards them. Just a calculated and foreseen disappointment. I never wanted to care for you. Caring just gets in trouble."

"I didn't make you."

"And for a while I hated you for that too." He chuckles and the sound of his voice lightens the somber atmosphere around them; his laughter genuine. "Once long ago I tried letting someone in, but my own greed and vanity pushed me towards someone else with dire consequences. I became trapped in a prison forged, in a way, by my own hands. And as the years passed I became accustomed to a different form of darkness."

"I was bright." She whispers anticipating what may be to come. She finally looks up peering over her forearms and from between her bangs.

"Like the sun the day I died." He admits in a gentle tone, eyes softening. He brings his right wrist forward playing with the cross tied around it and undoing the string until it came of. "I failed in thinking you _would_ never die. Lucy came before you and before Hellsing sank his greedy paws into me. There was always the though of never dying in the back of my mind. The years passed by and vampires perished around me while I **remained** inflicting the same means onto myself. I lost to my own pride as I said before. But them with Abraham and Mina and the spells, it only served to fuel that pride further. That is why falling of that pedestal hurt so much more than I ever believed possible. The sword ripped through your heart like it was nothing and I finally found death after 6 centuries. I found it when didn't wish for it any longer."

"Why didn't you leave me alone afterwards?"

"Saying I was weak won't be enough." He sighs. "Your blood offered me all the answers…" he breaks off watching as the silver bangle dangled hung from his fingers.

"That's not saying why." She says with a hint of disappointment.

"I don't have a better 'why'." He openly admits lowering his hand a little so that it rest once more on top of his knees. "Just as you had none for mine." Their eyes meet and the conversation turns silent for a long moment. "Still, I'm not so stupid as to know there are thing you may choose to overlook for a time, but never forget or forgive. From the moment I first tasted your blood I found that fear buried deep inside your heart, the fear of ending like **her** on the floor…at the beck and call of men's shameless desires. Why you always stayed away without letting people get to close. Always careful of whom you let it, yet you allowed the worst possible choice in your bed. I can't answer your 'why' not because I don't know how. It would be the easiest thing in the world to simply make something up as an excuse, but nothing I could ever say will ever be enough. And that is the sole reality you know to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt. I've walked through hell."

"You put me through it too."

"I know." He whole heartily admits the truth without holding back. He sighs and drops his knees crossing his legs Indian style. His hands settle on his lap fiddling with the silver cross. "It wasn't one of my best moments. My life is a mess draculina. A mess I can't remember, things I remember falsely and things I can never hope to forget. I'm so lost I don't even know if the things I show you are real anymore."

"Just tell me truth."

"I don't have one to tell Seras."

"Tell me about this." She whispers placing her left hand on top of his and the cross he held.

The prince's shoulders fall defeated with a light chuckle passing his lips. "Then offer me something first in return." He whispers. "Did she read the cards for you?"

Seras only nods. "I resent." She then sais with a soft smile taking her hand back, wrapping it around her legs once more and resting her chin on top of her knees.

"That's good."

"But I'm apparently choosing to overlook it."

"That sounds like you draculina." He smiles meeting her gaze once again. "It's all a matter of belief." He hands her the cross pleased that the silver metal caused her no harm.

"They didn't take the cross from you." She noted.

"Why should they when it is more gratifying to the see anguish of more unanswered prayers on your victims faces as you slowly kill them and their faith with torture. And when faith sends you to hell for taking your own life just to have it all finally stop. You don't know how many humans love to see something like that unfold. Most humans are the very monster they claim themselves not to be. It is all nothing but a cruel lie. And that has been my life for 6 long years, ribs broken and heard to breathe. Wishing for a death that never came until I desired life and vengeance far more."

"The princess wore this when she died." She tells him bringing the object up for a closer inspection and thus putting an end to the more nostalgic and tragic theme they had fallen into.

"So did most of my family, ironically. I might be cursed." He laughs and Seras joins in the sound of their laughter filling the room. "I miss her." He then whispers with a sigh. "And I couldn't even remember her face for the longest time. It changed once I turned and tasted my own blood. Blood holds life and memories. I was very little when she told me the most important lesson of my life."

Flashback

_"What were you thinking?" the woman's frantic tone filled the child's chamber as she scolded the young boy sitting on a chair in front of her while frantically moving from one corner of the room to another picking up pieces of cloth from drawers, a towel and water pitcher filling it with fresh warm water. She moved so fast her loose long raven hair, flowing down her lower back, moved behind her like a cape. And a silver cross hung around her throat from a matching silver chain made out of small pearl shaped beads reaching down to the middle of her chest juggled with each step clashing with the row of golden buttons adoring the front of her bodice. The fabric was dark midnight blue light appeared almost dark in the shade with golden thread embroilment and light yellow bands stretching over her bodice and around the entire length of the bottom hem and a final vertical one over the front of the skirt that connected with the one at the hem with a much thinner v-shaped band stitched along the waist. 6 more matching thin bands ran along the length of the sleeve as the bulge of her stomach stood out being almost 8 month into her pregnancy. "You know better. I've taught you better than this."_

_Despite the rage in her upset tone concern over the small child overshadowed it entirely as she finally knelt in front of him on the floor with the cloth and bowl of warm water by her right side. _

_The boy's clothes were torn in places and dirty especially on the left side while his cheek was marred with blood scrapes and a large developing bruise on his left temple and forehead. His lower lip had a cut on the right side; there were traces of leaves and dirt in his wavy raven hair that reached the top of his shoulders. More bruises were in the process of appearing marring the rest of his body beneath his clothes. The horse could have killed him._

_"Father said I…" the cloth moved gently over his skin cleaning his face and wounds as softly as possible, but stopped when he began to speak._

_"To hell with your father!" the woman snaps at him dropping her hand from his cheek as the words harshly leave her mouth with far more anger than they should have. He'd never heard her curse before, not anyone. His father especially._

_Her voice filled the room and when it was done the silence felt incredibly heavy. _

_"I'm sorry." The prince silently whispers lowering his head in shame even as the woman quickly turns her gaze from him bringing her left hand up to her face and sighing deeply. The taste of blood still hung in his mouth from the tooth he'd lost and the damage done to his lip and tongue. Speaking was also painful as his jaw throbbed from the sustained impact. The bone was luckily not broken, but bruised none the less._

_"I don't care what your father said. I won't have you endanger yourself, not ever." Her tone was calm yet again, calm and patient as she pushed her anger aside. There was no need to take her anger out on the small child; he wasn't at all at fault. She softly brought her left hand to raise his chin and bring the cloth back to his cheek. "You will not ride that horse again, do you understand me?"_

_"Yes…" he whispers almost as silently as before enjoying the cool comfort and touch of the cold wet cloth upon his skin, upon the bruises and scratches. Tears threatened to gathered and fall in the 4 year old child's eyes, but he held them back showing far more restraint than a child as young as him should poses. _

_"Do you understand?" she repeats making sure the words sank in as deeply as possible. _

_"I just wanted t…" he begins only to be cut off._

_"You're too young to want things like that and smart enough not to want stupid things. I've taught you enough of horses for your age."_

_"But they laughed." He quickly insists revealing the true cause for his actions. And as soon as does so his eyes widen in realization and he quickly drops his head as if ashamed for his outburst. He clenched his small hands in his lap._

_"Who laughed Vlad?" his mother softly asks placing both her left hand over his in a comforting gesture patiently waiting from him to continue._

_"Everyone." The admission is hard and barely spoke like a diluted whisper lost in a storm. His head slowly turns back and his upset ocean colored eyes beam with new found anger. "And father said, he said I should know more by now. He said I was slow and I didn't tell him you said not to let the horse gallop with me and…" the river of tears finally burst open, the dam breaking under his admission. And one by one the crystal clear droplets slid down his cheeks and onto her hands._

_"And you got hurt." She calmly states waiting for her son to calm himself as she knew he would. The prince can only nod and advert his gaze anew._

_"And you think I asked it of you to give anyone cause for laughter?"_

_"No." he softly admits._

_"It's alright my little one." She lovingly whispers kissing his forehead with genuine affection after which she wipes the tears from his face with both her hands. "I'm not angry with you. I'm hurt because you got hurt. Right here." She points to his heart placing her right hand over his chest and looking deeply into his blue eyes. "I never want to see you hurt. Your eyes should never be filled with anything hurtful." She then pauses brushing his right cheek with her thumb. "And now you're crying because you did not listen. You must always think before you act and never choose the first path comes your way. It's not always worth it or the best option to take. If people laugh then let them laugh for a moment and silence their tongues later forever. You'll be better at riding with time and patience and they'll never laugh at you again."_

_The woman's blue eyes held such love and understanding that looking away from her face would be the greatest dishonor. Vlad looked back, tears no longer falling down his cheek. He softly apologizes knowing deep down she was right. She was always looking out for him._

_"I'm sorry."_

_"I know little one." _

_And she would always be looking out for him._

Flashback end

"It all went to hell after that." His voice echoes lost in the silence of the room until it fades altogether. He turns his head the other way facing towards the window and his shoulders slump with a heavy sigh passing his lips. Once upon a time the cross he so dearly held had been full of live. Then one day it was given away to protect him only to be ruthlessly stolen by evil men and their will. And just like that the life within it faded trampled by those who would see it burn little by little and spread the pieces until they spanned over a sea of broken faith and life. Life was ripped from him in a pool of blood under the sharp edge of marred steel and the beautiful glow of an orange sun.

His blue eyes focused on the distant glass and the flakes of snow falling on the other side. It takes a moment, but then a slender hand reaches out towards him brushing several black strands of raven hair behind his left ear.

"I'll still stay." he can't help but smile at her words; words spoken as silently as possible since speaking any louder would ruin the moment.

How had it gone? A yes, there is no God and yet the closest thing to God…

Arms brush up against the sides of his shoulders as she hugged him tight resting her chin on top of his head. The words were spoken with genuine conviction and held no lies or a hidden agenda. Just a soul offered on a silver platter. The scent of his charcoal colored hair filled her nose in a soothing fashion as her hands came up to wrap themselves around his shoulders pulling him in closer molding hi to her body.

Yes the closes thing to God was…

Soft, supple, full lips brushing against the top of his head; her breath so warm and her touch so meaningful.

The closest thing was much too far when the devil's sin held him trapped, his soul wilting away until he'd found her. He held no resistance, none whatsoever, and his back found the now cold mattress and silken sheets. Warm hands slid down his upper back hugging him, warmer flesh settled against his chest and side and silver cascaded over his right shoulder. Thoughts were pushed well out of his mind and her hand moved along his shoulder blade to find the dip in his shoulder just above the clavicle. So beautiful, his loyal little girl. His little one. Such a good girl…so loyal…even without words.

The closest thing…

God made sin and sin defined God. God broke the faith sin puts together.

"Still so warm." Seras whispers brushing her cheek against his raven hair.

"Ice cold draculina."

The ever present phrase shared between them switched sides changing allegiance though not importance. Seras smiles focusing further on the sound of his steady heartbeat. The gentle rhythm was strong and potent.

"Master?"

The closest thing to God is his sin, his draculina.

"Yes?" her soft whisper finds him leaning against her and wrapping his own arms around her raised legs as she held him. An almost purr like sound fills the room as it reverberates over his entire ribcage like a gentle massage.

"Tell me who they are. All of them please." she pauses gazing deeply into his eyes. "Who _you_ are."

The words do not break the pattern of the purr freeing her throat from the burden of having to utter them and ruin the moment. With a soft sigh the prince briefly closes his eyes before reopening them and beginning one long forgotten tail.

"Renfield was a fool." Once upon a time words made the first story come to life. "But was also loyal and in many ways he would sometimes remind me…of my _**friend**_. I wasn't always…it bares little value now. The things done then as many others in the past can't be changed and dwelling on them seems pointless now. But for you, so that you alone may know the truth, I neither cast him out nor left him at the hands of those _righteous_ humans. I could save a _friend_ that way. As for Mina," he pauses allowing his mind to slowly remember a different time and a different set of events long passed. "Mina's eyes were blue."

The story thus began.

.

.

.

To be continued…


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 27**

New chapter is finally up. I know I said June-July and it's now well into September, but I got caught up in the idea of expanding Vlad's past and had writers block for a while trying to make it happen. I cut scenes and added others. I swear I've changed this story so many times it doesn't fit the ending I had planed any longer so I had to basically cut it out completely.

Also, the plot line surrounding Vlad's past was supposed to be only 4 chapters long and it somehow turned into another 22 chapters because I really wanted to explore his slowly growing relationship with Seras. Wow, I didn't really expect it either. However, there will be another 4 chapter until I start posting those. The base idea was that if the boy was capable of loving her to such an extent then why not have the side of his personality grow to care for her as well? The vampire shot her, but it was the young prince who bit her. So what influence could the man he would become have on that decision.

In short all 26 chapters to come are 90% done each and I will try to post on a more regular bases, but I can't make any definite promises because of work and everything else I have to do beside the story. But if I can I will try to post the next one by the end of the month.

Onto the story...:)

Chapter 27

"She's finally settled." Integra whispers keeping her voice low as not to wake the baby now that she finally got her to settle down. She sat on the edge of the bed rocking Margo as her father came back into the room from the bathroom after having popped his right shoulder back in place moments before.

"That's good." He replies walking up to the bed and taking a seat next to her while bringing his left hand to his right shoulder to rub and move it a few times until a tiny popping sound echoes. He'd set it back in place effectively, but it would need time to properly heal. His hands beheld cuts along his palms and knuckles and the twin wounds over his shoulder blades where his wings had previously been were large pink scars only recently healed.

"I want her checked out Walter. I need someone to look her over and tell me she's fine."

"It's unwise to do so. You died remember?" Walter counters not choosing quite the best manner in which to express himself. "You can't just…"

"Because she's tell you everything?" Integra shouts back raising her tone of voice , her expression hardening. "I don't want a vampire tell me my daughter's fine. I want a doctor. Someone who knows what the fuck their saying!" the baby began to whimper in her arms displeased at the sudden harsh tone that disturbed her. "She could be sick Walter."

"She's fine." He tells her though he know he's already lost the battle. She would get her way in the end, she always did. "Both of are. He's posted your picture all over the news and setting the mansion on fire only helped his cause."

"It wasn't a request."

"Yes, I know." He smiles half heartedly. He trusted Seras. She told him the baby's blood smelled fine and that there wasn't anything wrong with either her or her mother. And with both Iscariot and the McCoy after them the possibility of something happening to his little family outweighs simple concerns that could easily be disproved. "But these vampires saved your life. Why not trust them?"

"So you _don't_ care?" her eyes harden even more and its an expression he was more than familiar with.

"I didn't say that."

"Not in as many words as you think." Integra stands from the bed cradling the baby and turning her back to him.

"You're putting words in my mouth. And you're being difficult."

"I have a god damned right to be!" She shouts turning back around waking the baby completely. Margo starts to cry in return making her mother utter a silent curse before starting to rock her gently once more.

"Integra…"

"I said it wasn't a fucking request." What did it matter if she screamed and shouted any longer? The baby was already up and wailing and it would take her at least another half hour or so to get her to come down. "Whether you help me or not, I'm getting her checked out."

"I'm aware of that." Walter calmly replies walking up to her side.

"The what the hell is you problem?" she hisses the words attempting to lower the tone of her voice. Even so the anger remained.

"I want you safe." He tells her grabbing hold of her right upper arm. "That's all that matter to me. I won't let you just expose yourself to danger. You almost died once, both of you."

"And that should give you ample cause to want us taken care of." She pulls her arm back walking passed him and into the bathroom. The baby needed to be change now as well. Just great.

"What do you think the dye on the sink is for?" Walter counters with a wide mischievous smirk getting her to spot short of passing the threshold. "And I know you don't really need you glasses any more. Those lenses are just glass Integra."

"Are they?" she asks looking over her left shoulder while halfway turning to face him.

"I miss you hair." He softly whispers reaching out with his right hand to trace her left cheek with the back of his hand before entwining his fingers into the long strands of platinum blond hair left in the front. It was still completely uneven both in front and back from when Heinkel had taken the bayonet to her neck. And since she wasn't quite expecting it, the words somewhat take her by surprise. As does the soft smile and gentle look in his eyes.

"Walter…"

"Don't think I don't care, I do."

"I just want…"

"I know what you want." He interrupts her cupping her left cheek and tracing small circles over her cheekbone. His tone is husky and deep and its not just the baby they're talking about. But as quickly as the change in his eyes appears, it vanishes not a moment later and his hand drops atop Margo's tiny head and the small white cap she wore. "I'm not blind and I can read in between the lines better than anyone else. I know where I stand…"

"You're putting words in my mouth."

"And they would be rightfully placed and spoken." The smile is sad as he pulls his hand away and looks away. "I envy them you know. We both grew up with vampires around, Alucard especially. And we've both seen how he's like."

"If Seras stays why can't I?" She softly says looking down at the baby who finally stopped crying. "I'm not Seras Walter."

"You don't forgive."

"Not the way you want me too. I can't, I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." He whispers leaning in to rest his forehead atop her right shoulder. "And it's ok. I understand. You won't give it and I won't take it.""

"That makes no sense."

"But it does." He chuckles raising his head from atop her shoulder and moving his lips directly over her ear. "More than you think. _This is us_ milady."

"What are you saying?"

"This is what you want." His fingers entwine themselves in her long locks once. "You're not the kind to live off simple forgiveness."

"It doesn't mean I don't…"

"Of course not." He nips the underside of her jaw in a playful manner. "Dying your hair won't get you in the hospital alone. And you would have asked one way or the other. It's just a matter of time."

"My daughter comes first."

"Yes, but revenge is a very close second. All in good time."

"Then stop whining so much about it."

"Of course not." She teases passing him the child which he eagerly embraces and gently rocks. "But you're her father." With that said she turns around closing the bathroom door behind her.

"_I am_." Walter whispers revealing an evil grin that promised harm to all who would dare bring harm to the little girl safely sleeping in his arms once more.

.

.

A few hours passed and some of the rays of the sun would have touched the snow covered ground had it not been for the heavy clods starting to obstruct the sky more and more. Heavy and slow they formed a solid mass from which large snow flakes fell making a bridge between the two worlds. The sun however, was brightly shining and the hours itself still young, the clock not yet sticking half passed one, but the layer of clouds made it seem far later in the day.

The room was bathing in silence with not even the flicker of a baby candle to stand against it. Vlad slept peacefully, his shoulder long black hair falling over his shoulders and bangs covering more than half his face. He had his right hand held out in front of him partially dangling over the edge of the bed and his left beneath the pillow hugging it. The mattress was warm beneath him, the sheets lightly crumpled, blanket covering him up to his shoulders. Seras lays in waiting beside him resting as well though she once again didn't allow herself the comfort of truly sleeping as he did. She was only partially asleep keeping her senses sharp and alive in order to asses any threat that might appear. She lay on her right side behind him with her arm curled in front of her chest and body in a semi fetal position and white hair spread like a beautiful veil over the pillow and sheets. She hadn't bothered moving beneath the blanket and she still wore the crimson shirt with the same single button under her breast closed and the rest undone.

Softly sighing, the prince stretches his body a little before turning on his back, his right arm moving up over his head as he stretches. Seconds later his eyelids start fluttering open and he sheepishly raises his head a little bit off the pillow to take in his surroundings. A light discomfort in his neck like a tiny sting prohibited him from rising too fast.

Blue eyes eventually open in the darkness of the room. The curtains were drawn over the windows, yet were slightly parted in the middle as well allowing a thin ray of light from the streetlamp to seep in. His groan was light as his eyes slowly adjusted to the faint trickle of light seeping through a crack in the fabric of the curtain and his right arm fell over his face rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He blinks twice then jerks up with a gasp in a seated position remembering the events that had transpired earlier and at the same time never knowing about Seras's presence right next to him as she faded into nothingness as soon as his body moved.

Flashback

_"It hurt to breath, that's the last thing I remember. And after that blood and revenge never tasted better." The young prince finishes his tale with a heavy sigh briefly closing his eyes in contemplation. The haunting sight of that abandoned field and all those headstones shaped like crosses laid in their memory lingered but a moment longer as he finally fell back on the soft matters of the bed after more than an hour into the story with his head resting atop his pillow, his left arm outstretched next to his body and his right across his stomach and t-shirt. He stretched both his legs and almost brushes them against Seras's who sat on the bed next to him left with her rights shoulder leading against the wall and her bare legs partially drawn towards her chest in a similar fashion. _

_"You may feed, if you wish." He ads after a long moment of silence turning his head to the left to look at her. Her eyes were closed and all her hair was swept to the side falling over her right shoulder while the crimson shirt she wore was just as revealing as ever._

_"Will nothing happen if I do?" her eyes slowly open meeting his gaze, her tone soft yet filled with lingering concern._

_"It might." He admits without withholding the truth from her. In reality he had no idea what would happen. "But I don't concern myself with the consequences."_

_"Elena said not to, she knows I shouldn't."_

_"But do you?" he asks. "Know you shouldn't?" he ads after a small pause. The silver cross and its black string were once again tied around his throat with cross resting against the middle of his chest just under his sternum close to touching his right hand._

_Seras stays silent not releasing the smallest murmur yet lowers her head a little so that white strands fell forward over her forehead before she pushed them back with both her hands and then raised her head meeting his gaze once more._

_"I can't make the decision for you little one. If you want to feed you may."_

_Instead of answering Seras merely leaves her spot crawling on the bed until she reaches his side on the left and settles in the space between him and the wall dropping her forehead onto his left shoulder._

_"There are worst things than can happen draculina." Vlad tells playfully nudging her with his left knee. _

_"I don't know." Seras softly replies inhaling his scent._

_"But you are hungry, are you not?" he asks turning his head to look at her. She nods in defeat. Starving was an understatement." Not everything she sees is right."_

_"I don't care if she's right!" she raises her voice gripping his upper arm with her hands sinking her nail into the fabric of his sleeve making him hiss. "Don't you understand?" she then ads in a far lower and softer tone. She was far too hungry to control herself should she actually give in into the hunger. "Even after everything I still…I'm still…"_

_"Your trust is too easily given." The prince tells her and though the words sound as if he's disappointed, the pride in his tone overshadows it all. __**I'm still afraid to hurt you**__…it was so simple._

_"It's mine to give." She whispers unclenching her fingers from around her knees and bringing them up to his left thigh._

_"So is my blood." He tells her both contradicting and acknowledging her words with that one sentence. Seras raises her head peering at him from behind her bangs for a second before he reaches out with his left hand and pushes the strands behind her right ear uncovering more of her face. _

_"You'll know what I'm hiding. All the lies I've said and this time __**all**__ that I've done." And just like that, that very silence was broken. "Ask me Seras. I can't hide anything now that I'm human." he can't help but feel the weight on his chest grow heavier with each word. Irony had a manner of finding vengeance in the harshest ways. "Ask if you should resent m…"_

_The imaginary weight it turned real by her body draping over him, her legs straddling his hips and her chest covering his smothering him in her embrace as her arms rested on either side of his face firmly holding onto his wrist which she'd forced over his head. Her mouth was pressed against his right jugular, the cold touch of her fangs threatening to do exactly what he was asking for. _

_His eyes narrowed knowing just what to say. "I raped you Seras. You did not want me."_

_"No!" she hisses into his ear gripping both his wrists so hard she left bruising marks perfectly depicting her fingers. "You lie."_

_He'd told her he didn't. He'd said so…_

_"I always lie." The words are enough to kill her strength and her grip loosens almost completely, his tone so harsh, so evil. "And you are __**easy**__**prey **__ah…"_

_Her fangs sink in without mercy. Her left hand leaves his wrist grabbing a fistful of his hair and jerking his head to bare his throat. She bites over and over inconsiderate of his muffled screams, erratic breathing and thrashing legs pushing against the bed in response to the atrocious pain she was inflicting. It was all he deserved and more. She was tearing his throat out like a lion eating form his still living prey till the latter bled to death or died from shock. _

_But then, as blood filled his mouth and his eyes began seeing black his mouth was widely parted allowing the iron taste of more warm crimson to coat his tongue. His lips were unable to close and each time he tried his teeth clashed against her bleeding wrist forcing him to swallow._

_/No!/ was his immediate thought as well as his only one when she suddenly invaded his mind breaking through every line of defense he could possibly have and forcing all locked doors to his mind open. He was __**human**__. At this point he couldn't be anything else, both the man and the vampire were locked away. Yet Seras was pushing forward threatening to break that fragile unbalance ruling over him at this moment by offering so much of her blood at the same time. They were sharing blood. And that scared him, scared him more than the prospect of almost having meat death for another time. _

_"Ahh!" he screams weakly trying to remove her hand from his mouth whilst unsuccessfully pushing with his legs against the matter to get her off. He succeeds in neither and barely manages to lift the both of them a few mm of the matters. Her pelvis grinded against his and her ample chest were crushed against his, the soft texture tormenting. And though she barely moved her weight alone was enough to hold him down against his will. Her body was incredibly soft._

_Tears eventually fell from his eyes with the few sharp inhales and exhales he managed to take. The pain closely matched one of the worst moments of his young life and whether or not she was doing it on purpose, forcing the memory of that out and inflicting it once more, he felt vindicated if only just. It was the most violent reaction he'd ever gotten out of her. It hurt beyond belief and for a moment he couldn't help think these had been her exact feelings all those times in the past. 'Sorry' would never, ever be enough. Not in any lifetime. He deserved every lash her powers dealt to both his mind and body._

_"Ahh.." he loudly exhales in utter relief the second she quickly retracts her fangs form his skin and turns her head away burring her bloodstained mouth into the pillow next to him. The twin wounds are left open to bleed, the blood pulsing out of the pierced vassals with each strong beat of his heart wetting his shirt, draining him of what remained of his blood. He feels his hair almost ripped from his skull from the force of her grip upon it as she cries into the pillow, the sound somewhat muffled by the feather pillow. What had he done? Her mind couldn't fathom the answer. Not after what she'd seen._

_"Ser..ass..." he was unable to speak, the blood loss to great. The pillow was getting soaked and his mind was fogged, his eyes growing heavier and his vision darkening becoming blurred, his body going blissfully numb. He was bleeding to death._

_Seras couldn't hear him. Why? __**Why?...**_

_All this time…_

_All this time it had never been just a weakness….more of a desperation…_

_Crimson tears couldn't help but fall._

_It had been __**him**__ all this time. Her master caring for her, fighting for her life, softly speaking or offering a single flower or caress, the man falling to his knees shouting not have her taken from his, to save her, had been __**him**__. She wasn't loved she was wished, wished by a mere child hidden behind a man and a monster vampire. It had never truly been her master all this time…just a part of the whole._

**.**

_**"You did this…it's your doing." Each single word was laced with venom. "This is your peace, their answer. This is their fucking answer!"**_

_**"Pull it out…" Integra said, shoulders shaking and face hidden from sight by her platinum, now almost completely white, hair. She continued with a scream. "Pull it out damn it what the hell are you waiting for?"**_

_**"I can't!"**_

_**.**_

_**Release me." In the end the simple need to preserve a cherished life prevailed. The tone calmed down, but the anger lingered on just as strong and just as potent burning at the surface with an intensely bright flame. "Release me so I can save her."**_

**.**

**Do not take her from me…**

_Don't take her from me. Don't take her…_

_Those words had meant so much that first time he'd shown her. So much._

_And now, now they held a completely different meaning. This wasn't her master, it wasn't it. It was just a part, a broken fragment that meant nothing and she should have listened. She should have listened all along to his own admission as everyone else__**. All of them. All of them had been right.**_

_Why don't you resent? Why? When everyone else already knew why._

_When you should and no one would think any less of you. _

_Why couldn't she have listened?_

_**.**_

_**Master is not a demon.**_

_By her own admission. _

_**.**_

_"What of that child is hers then? What have you not touched in any way?"_

"_She was dying!"_

"_And what stopped you from letting her?" _

_She remembers Elena's words screaming with such conviction. She shouts and her crimson orbs burn with passion and truth. _

_"The ruthless beast does not care for a dying girl! You don not care, have not cared! You demanded compensation for helping me live!" she never once broke eye contact with him. "You demanded payment for a life_ _my own, just because you lifted one finger to help me once." _

_"Yet not once had your _**_conscience_**_ ever demanded something of this magnitude before. Had it you would not be standing here _**_praying_**_ for miracles. You of all creatures."_

_"Yet once I too believed in God."_

_"So did I, but there was never a God for us. Nothing we did made him descend from heaven and stop us our own stupidity. Not even now." _

_**.**_

_**.**_

Seras's eyes snap open at that particular thought.

There is **no** _God_. There is only emptiness…By his own admission.

**.**

_"No one else saw, though I used to walk right beside them….I would whisper and I would talk…and would forever be damned to the stillness of the shadows…"_

_**No one. Ever. Saw. me.**_

_**.**_

_She gasps silently releasing the breath she didn't realize she was holding. The scent of his blood was overwhelming; it surrounded her like a blanket._

_I'll still say. I'll stay…._

Her crimson tears were no longer shed in anger or betrayal; they were filled with sorrow, deeply rutted sorrow.

_**Don't take her from me.**_

_**I used to walk through walls and no one would see me.**_

_"Se..r…s…" the sound of his voice turned her around and her mouth immediately went for the bite wound. There was so much spilled blood…_

_His heartbeat beneath her chest wild and rapid at first was now slowly dying becoming weaker and weaker. A second later his body went completely still beneath her and the warmth of his skin turned cold. _

_It had never been the man. And it had never been the vampire._

**Tell me, what are you holding onto then?**

**The closest thing I have to God.**

_Someone's love…_

_The prince's heart stopped with that final tough entering her mind._

Flashback end

Fuck it hurt.

They were the sole thoughts racing through the young prince's mind as he slowly regained consciousness, his eyelids fluttering open fighting off the fatigue and his blurred vision returning to normal whilst painfully slow making out the shape of the ceiling of his room. The crick in his neck made the simplest move hurt like hell, swallowing was painful and as he weakly lifted his right hand to touch his face before remembering the bite and jerking up on the bed in seated position his body wasn't prepared for. The movement, as simple as it was, made him sick causing everything around him to spin and forcing him to lie back down with a heavy grown. The side of his throat hurt and throbbed still and once his fingers touched it again they brush across a carefully wrapped bandage; clean and dry without a single trace of blood on it. His skin was unnaturally pale as he then brought his palm in front of his face and his lips no longer held that soft and healthy pinkish hue.

His limbs barely had the strength to move and forcing them did not help matters much. Thus, it took him several good minutes to sit up in his bed once more and push the blanket covering him aside without becoming nauseous.

"Seras?" he softly calls searching the bed as well as the room for her presence. There was no trace of blood around him, not the pillow, the bed or anywhere else. His shirt too was perfectly clean and dry.

"Draculina." He calls with a bit more strength in his weakened voice though his tone remains without genuine anger. It's then that the tiniest of sounds reaches his ears prompting him to carefully lean over the edge of the bed with his upper body and finally discover the white ball of fuzz curled up in a tiny ball beneath the bed. With his head upside-down his shoulder long hair pools on the wooden floor in front of the bed while his left hand helps hold him in place by gripping onto the edge of the bed.

The tiny kitten had her tail tucked in beneath her body and both her ears down molded against the top of her head. Her large blue eyes open in greeting for only a second in response to his gentle call, that soft and gently whispered 'draculina' as he now stared upside-down into her sky blue irises. Her eyes were so sad filled with remorse and something else….

Keeping his left hand in place he reaches out to her with his right arm only to find her small form pulling away from his touch before the tips of his fingers could touch her fur.

"Come here little one." He softly and patiently whispers despite the dizzy spell taking over him with his head held upside-down like that and extends his fingers towards her and placing his hand on the floor in front of her. There he waits most patiently for the few moments it takes her to uncurl her body and very slowly and hesitantly, pace forward with tiny steps until her front paws touch the tips of his index and middle finger and her small head makes contact with the pads of his fingers. "Come here…" he repeats easily picking her up by the scuff of her neck and pulling her form under the bed as he carefully sits back up on the bed. Unfortunately, he can't keep the position for long and has to lower himself back down on the pillow shutting his eyes to fight of the sudden sickness. His head throbbed and he was nauseous and laying down seemed to help very little. He lets his right leg dangle over the edge while scooting backwards on the bed and can't really bring himself to care about it once lying down. His right hand still held onto Seras's tiny body and placed her on top of it of his chest where she curls back into a ball beneath his palm. She lowers her head on her front paws and look away from his face fixing her gaze instead on the middle of his chest and black shirt.

"Why so sad draculina?" he playfully asks despite the situation he found himself playing with the tip of her small right ear knowing she would struggle not to respond to the soft touch and purr in utter delight. Still, the tiny appendage twitched underneath his fingers. If he could he would have placed both of his hands on either side of her and leaned in till his mouth was directly over her head and his warm breath caressed her pure white fur while he spoke to her. But then the feel of her soft white fur against his palm disappears and two hand cups either side of his face instead tilting it up. A weight settles over his forehead and the throbbing headache and dizziness fade, his eyes opening to soft lips pulling back from his forehead. A mix of gold and white hair fell forward over Seras's right shoulder though most of her hair was still swept to the side, pooling onto the pillow next to his head. Her crimson eyes were filled with regret and concern carefully searching his face for any sign of pain or discomfort she could find and meeting her gaze he couldn't help but fell _regret_. Her concern for him still came first, or so it seemed.

"Few have been as successful in killing me as you." He tells her keeping her gaze with a small smile on his lips as the words were meant to lighten the moon and surprisingly, he succeeds by the tiniest sketch of a smile she offers in return.

"There is no man. And there is no vampire." Seras tells him lowering her head until her breath caresses his left ear and her lips brush against his cheek. "Just _you_. It's always been you."

The prince remains silent, yet his blue eyes swell with emotion. There isn't a force on earth that could now take that statement back and no lie to ever cover it up.

_The Fool's quests are many and in his haste the one he truly desires may pass him without knowledge of the fact. You must wake or find yourself the fool beside a crumbling tower._

"As long as you _stand_ in the wake of my fall." Vlad tells taking that one moment to close his eyes and inhale her sweet scent. For it might just be the last chance he gets in this lifetime. And no one would ever come close to understanding, to knowing how much he…regretted his actions.

"You lied." She counters careful of her weight on top of him. She brings her arms on either side of his head anew letting her elbows hold her up while her knees sink further into the mattress trapping his lower body beneath hers.

"You needed _them_. You craved _them_."

He was nothing, though it wasn't at all pleasant to admit the truth. After all, she held the weight of his mind in the palm of her hand. A mind that confirmed all of his previous words, all down to the one she hated most...rape. For it hadn't been all that consensual that night when Schrödinger's blood poisoned her.

"I **saw**…"

"You see what I want. Don't you understand?" Vlad raises his voice faking anger, though it's a failed attempt. And so he sighs painfully swallowing his anger. "You see what I want."

What I am willing to offer, to do, to keep you safe. To keep you **happy**. You need _them_, care for _them_ not me. I am _master_, but will never be **master**. Just a shattered fragment of a broken glass. And for that the lie was worth protecting. Even if he had to bury it deep beneath more lies and more deceit.

_I'll stay. _

Protect it now more than ever aster such meaningful declaration. To him its meaning was beyond priceless. For as long as she smiled it was enough. And he would continue to watch from afar, from the darkness, and bask in the smallest ray of light, her light, that reached him while the rest belonged to _someone else_.

"It was you." Each spoken word fought tooth and nail against his resolve chipping at the pieces one at a time. "Every touch, every caress…"

Vlad closes his eyes and turns his head attempting to block her out, but the feel of her mouth against the underside of his jaw and her warm breath caressing the moist skin left behind by her full, soft lips presentenced him from doing him. "Every emotion was yours."

Flashback

"_Take the blood Seras. Do not close your eyes and take the blood I offer."_

"_Hu..h…hurts…."_

"_Please look at me."_

"_I beg you to take it. I need you to accept the blood I offered. Please you're drowning in it. I can't save you otherwise._

_Don't close your eyes draculina. Don't close your eyes." The sweet warmth of his breath caressed her lips and chin so gently and tenderly despite the pain concealed within each word. 'Don't close your eyes'…__**Don't die draculina. Don't die.**_

Flashback end

That was the image that forced her to break free of his mind whilst feeding. The sheer pain witnessed in those glorious magma eyes staring at her from behind the raven curtain of his bangs tore through her in a way they never had the first time. She finally saw them for what they really were, the true emotion hidden inside, and it had called out to her very soul with such strength it hurt to finally experience it for what it really was.

Flashback

_Seras's eyes could barely open enough for her to see yet time and time again his face was always there in front of her shining with a beautiful light so pure and true. Her hands could not let go as they continued to move back and forth with absolutely no space left between their bodies. He trusts and the kiss shared is broken. The smallest of gasps escapes her as her lips part, her head tilts backwards and he was compelled to follow her movement with his own body as not to lose the close proximity between his mouth and hers. Her hands clenched his as he firmly yet gently took them from his body and held them above her head pushing into her body with slow and gentle trusts. Her body arches ever so slightly and two fresh crimson droplets roll down her temples following their predecessors, eyelids opening halfway. _

Flashback end

"You _love_ me…" Seras breaths with such raw emotion, such happiness. And it hurts worse than a silver blade through his undead heart.

Flashback

_"Could you ever lover her vampire?" An old Sir Hellsing questions her servant. Her back is too him as she sits at her desk smocking her half burned out cigar while the vampire stands behind her looking out of the window and the crescent moon shining from behind a thin layer of clouds. A single red rose that matched the one she had seen him offer his Childe earlier lay partially crumpled on her desk in front of her. "You," she pauses to take a deep inhale. "Don't feel." She exhales releasing all the smoke from her lungs. "And when you __**will**__," the word is said with such sarcasm neither of the two can help the smirk from gracing their lips. "You'll know not what to call it."_

Flashback end

"You stay." Those two words were the sole reply he found himself capable of offering. Peace was closest to God, acknowledging love in return.

"You are giving me away."

She wasn't his to keep. She was _theirs_, his other selves. And always had been.

"You…_shot_ me?" she questions whispering the words so softly. Had her death also not been as he'd shown her? Had it also been different?

"No." he immediately replies denying everything. His sigh is heavy and doesn't go unnoticed. Especially after he gives her exactly what she needed to hear. He closes his eyes and his confession doesn't come easily, his tone of voice deep and serious as he swallows hard. Just lie. Just lie, it wasn't that hard. It was easy and he could do it. Yet it was proving to be beyond difficult to accomplish. "I bit you…"

Seras cries and her arms immediately tighten their hold around his neck embracing him for dear life. "Your blood was divine. So pure…"

"Let me wash it away." Her fingers gently stroke his raven hair as more of her weight settles over him.

"You're not meant to be mine."

God it hurt. He was hammering nails into his own skin condemning himself. At least this last moment, the feel of her soft, warm body against him would keep him company in the cold darkness yet to come. _They_ pulled the trigger, but _he_ was the one who ultimately _**urged**_ them to bite.

"Touch me." Seras whispers damnation with the promise of an eternal moment as her body shifts on top of him and her hips grind into his own awaking desire into his weak, numb body. The friction damming and impossible to resist and for a brief moment he gives in grinding back shutting his eyes and grasping her upper thighs to stop her.

He should have never reached out. Her skin was utterly soft and the muscles firm under his palms, her knees pushing against the mattress on either side of his hips while slowly swaying. There was so little blood left in his system and he felt so weak. And yet his cheeks blushed when she raised her head to look at him. Her full pink lips moist and parted, eyelids lidded with desire and golden hair swept to the side exposing the left side of her throat so beautifully. The low neckline of her scantly buttoned up crimson shirt left little to the imagination especially once her breast her crushed against his chest the more weight she settled on top of him. Her lips were hovering dangerously close to his and her gaze kept him grounded intensifying the blush staining his cheeks.

She _had_ to stop. He _**had**_ to stop her. Before…it all went to hell.

"I won't harm you."

Unlike all others, he couldn't bring himself to doubt her words. The young prince had never known _pleasure_, nor ever shared it with a woman. And he was refusing it still. She shouldn't…

"You aren't mine. You belong to another." And your love belongs to another. He may be young but he understood how the world worked and he knew full well how to read people and read between the lines. _Master_ **wasn't** a mere _boy_. No. master was broken and the boy was just another piece to one day become whole again. He would become the man and the man would then become the vampire and the boy would be lost again. Lost and cast out as nothing more than a moment in time long forgotten. The boy was pain and torment, the rest raw power and vengeance. And power always triumphed.

"You know so little." Seras counters joining their lips together. Showing him…

Flashback

_She caught a mere glimpse of raven hair before soft, warm lips enclosed her own in what would be a chaste, yet her first, kiss. Their eyes lock onto each other anew the entire time until the very last moment when the boy pulled back painfully slow as if to prolong the contact between their lips for as long as possible. That done his face remained mm from hers, his warm breath caressing it as he spoke and pleaded in a husky tone slightly resembling that of a much older person. _

"_Please don't. Don't wipe it off." His mouth curls in a beautiful little smile as he speaks. _

.

"_It's alright little one." _

"_I understand." His words spoke volumes and his tone made her sob yet again and tighten her grip on his shirt for a moment before she let go of it completely and moved her arms under his so that her hands rejoined behind his back and held on firmly. Her palms settled a short while later over the small of his back after twisting and turning the fabric in her grasp a few times until she calmed herself down enough to just stand there in his arms, as close as possible, without moving a muscle. He didn't let go until she willingly decreased the hold she had on him and pulled her hands back towards her chest._

_._

_She's everything_

_"Do not die for me." He whispers directly into her left ear, a hidden plea within his hoarse, deep voice and a tone that sends shivers down Seras's spine forcing her eyes open and listen carefully. "Somewhere along the way…" the feeling of his mouth nipping at her skin had her sighing as soon as he slowly moves up towards the angle of her jaw. "We shared more than just blood."_

_That said his tone suddenly darkness and he thrust his mouth against her ear emitting a low and dangerous growl. "_**_Do not die for me!"_**_ There is no need to shout or scream when the mere depth and roughness of his tone is enough._

_"Let go…" she pleads feeling overwhelming sadness fill her soul like a warm blanket meant to soothe a sick child in his bed. The pain was starting once again…she didn't want it…no more…_

_"I already have."_

.

_"I want to see something more than darkness and cold each time I close my eyes or open them. Just as you do and have for so long a time a now. You at least live. I just bask in death and the crumbs you throw me. The world never cared about me. You at least they fear, you they learned to fear, to respect, but I don't even exist. They don't even _**_see_**_ me. I must always be _**_nothing_**_."_

_._

_"And if she saw you what then? You _**_are_**_ nothing…a faded past unworthy of remembering. What is there to see in the likes of you?"_

_The words were beyond cruel, and cruelty itself was a kind word to be used. "It doesn't matter." The boy replies "As long as she just…_**_saw_**_ me..."_

.

_I understand…_

Flashback end

Showing him…Showing a simple moment that tipped the balance.

"Have me."

"You're not meant to be mine."

The emotion raging in Seras's crimson eyes was powerful and beyond compare. More so when his fought back against her and reflected only peace and acceptance to the notion of letting her go.

Flashback

_"You," she pauses to take a deep inhale. "Don't feel." She exhales releasing all the smoke from her lungs. "And when you __**will**__," the word is said with such sarcasm neither of the two can help the smirk from gracing their lips. "You'll know not what to call it. __**You**__ are __**incapable**__ of love Alucard."_

_"I am." The ancient vampire agrees without taking his eyes off the moon. The clods were still clouding it over, yet despite the obstacle its light still shone through._

_He agreed, but deep down inside, a small part of him, however small, knew different. That small part __**was**__ capable…of loving another…_

Flashback end.

"You aren't meant to be mine."

It truly hurt to say those words yet again. Not to mention the heartbreaking look and emotion he could clearly see inside her crimson eyes. Everything stopped. And for that moment he felt his heat stop beating once again. And felt it shatter beyond repair.

The pain in her eyes wasn't something he could turn away from. Still, he forced himself to look on and bare witness to the torment he was inflicting. The comfortable and soothing feel of her weight on top of him fades as she pulls back gazing down and hiding her crimson eyes behind long bangs that serve to shield her from any more. Her hands trail a path from around his head over his shoulders and upper torso before being removed entirely. Her touch had never felt colder.

She sits up still looking down, yet he can see her biting her bottom lip and clench her hands together in front of her stomach wishing she could touch him, but refrains herself from doing it per _his_ request.

"Draculina…"

"You're not my master." She cuts him of before more can be said. "Don't call me such." The mere tone of her voice was harsh, yet the moment her raises her gaze the betrayal he sees shining back is beyond what simple words can describe. And so prince swallows the lump in his throat watching as crimson tears trailed down her cheeks. "What are you then?"

She was so broken and it seemed it was all he could really manage to do right was to cause her harm time and time again. On top of it all he knew why she felt betrayed, hurt and embarrassed for ever suggesting, for offering to mend what 6 years of physical torment had been dealt to his young body with one simple act…of _pleasure_. However wrong it might have seemed.

"_Nothing_…" he whispers and his own tears go unnoticed. He had finally lost everything. Still he smiles, however ironic it may be, and looks down at his hands holding onto her thighs one last time before slowly pulling them away severing the last piece of string of his own fate. He looks away turning his head to the right and briefly shuts his eyes and takes in a deep breath steadying himself for whatever was about to come.

"Were you so bored you had to…" Seras tells him yet is unable to finish her sentence. And all the while she was speaking all he could think about was not turning his head back and meeting her gaze. Just stay silent. Just …stay…quite…

Just…let her think anything she whished…_**of you…**_

As long as….

"You lie with such grace…" Seras breathes into his left ear still crying. However, it's not her words that prompt him open his eyes, but her manner of speaking. Gone were the pain and anguish, the betrayal and hurt filling her words form before. Her voice strangely mimicked his down to the very last sound. _Acceptance_…

Wetness drips onto his cheek and he opens his eyes instantly turning his head to look, making the one mistake he shouldn't have had. He doesn't stay quite. For in that moment alone his eyes and the sorrow and pitiful look within them become his downfall.

The kiss is fiery and passionate as arms encircle his neck once more in a protective embrace never to let go. He is once again pinned to the bed though her legs entwine themselves with his this time and his hand move to grab her wais instead of her hips easily sliding down and underneath the loose fabric to touch her bare skin. The taste of blood fills his mouth due to her injured bottom lip and though it lowly becomes harder and harder not to breathe he makes no move to either stop her or break the kiss itself. The condemned at least had the change of a final request. And whether it was granted or not, they at least had it.

"You are a liar." Seras hoarsely breaths against his lips, her grip on his raven hair harsh and her fingers pull hard at the soft strands. Her elbow too press into his shoulders hard as she breaks the kiss hovering over him, their noses touching, red smearing the sides of her face because of him. "A selfish liar."

"I am." The prince replies catching his breath, his breathing erratic while his eyes desperately search hers for answers.

"I _hate_ you…"

_**Finally**_**...**

Even broken she was beautiful to look at. It finally came to pass. Hate, finally came to pass and he couldn't be happier. For once he could have an emotion that solely belonged to him. For once, he could finally gaze at her without needing to hide everything. Hate was beautiful in its own way.

"I know." He softly tells her baring the entire weight of his soul for her to see. He looks on, blue eyes never faltering, content for a brief moment in his short life. Seras's head drops in the crook of his neck on the left side where she'd bitten him and the harshness of her grip abound his neck looses to a comfortable and loving embrace that should not be there. Vlad's eyes narrow in confusion.

Was she…

The though is too cruel to think. She couldn't. She mustn't….

"_I'll stay_."

No!

His mind screams in desperation. The panic in his blue eyes beyond obvious at this point. No, no, no…

Why? It was all going so well. There was nothing left to hide form her now, nothing. She was aware of all he had done. **Why?**

Anger filled his soul. Was he such a pathetic creature he couldn't accomplish one simple task? For god's sake the entire world hated him. There wasn't a person out there he couldn't make hate or despite him had he wished it. Child's play.

Yet all he could possibly hear from her was 'I'll stay'. Pathetic. Truly and absolutely pathetic.

**Hate…** It had been the one thing he never desired from her in the beginning when he found out she alone could sense him when he could _exist_ as something beyond a mere shadow lost and casted out to wander among empty, dark underground stone halls. Then all that changed and the more he did the more he doomed himself for his transgression against her. The more he still clung to the notion she maybe, just maybe won't turn away from in disgust and anger, hoping she would continue not to hate. And now when he'd finally crossed the last line of her defense and trampled over her most sacred trust like a barbarian unfeeling and uncaring, she still _stayed_. Hate, though fever feared had felt wonderful and deserving, but then to have it snatch away so easily was indeed cruel. It was well deserved and iy made him proud to know she could hurt him back just s he deserved and yet…

"I'll stay."

God damned it! Hearing it once was bad enough. He wasn't some fucking martyr to be pitied and loved for sacrificing himself for the better good. Why must she be so difficult? Must he truly be the vile and despicable monster he grew up into to gain once damn ounce of hatred. Must he truly…go as far as forcing his will against her?

"You're thoughts are too loud." The prince gasps startled by her words breaking his train of through to which Seras merely smiles against his cheek, chuckles softly and embracing him tighter. "I know you didn't," she softly whispers brushing her lips against his skin as she speaks. "Your blood can't lie as well as you."

The prince gasp a second time and his eyes widen in disbelief. Of course! The blood, of course. How could he have forgotten? Shit.

"You're _human_." Seras answers in his place letting him know she had continued to listen in on his thoughts. But what stuck with him weren't her words or the implication that he was just human. It was her tone: she was amused.

And her fangs were trailing down the left side of his bare throat. Wait what? The bandages wer….

"Haarghh." His though don't get the chance to manifest and his lips briefly part wide in what would have been a loud cry had he not quickly swallowed it up harshly biting down on his bottom lip. Her fangs sink in the exact spot as before and his body is helpless against the sudden intrusion. His head tilts back and his back arches attempting to push her off; his fingers digging into her sides instead of her thighs for better leverage with no luck whatsoever.

/I won't hurt you.../ She whispers so beautifully into his mind and the pain somehow seems to fade with his subsequent exhale, the sound loud and content. Teeth marks mar his bottom lip, his head falls back onto the pillow settling more comfortably on top of it as a fresh set of crystal clear tears drips down his cheeks. Seras's right arm wrap around his shoulders and holds his head in place while the left cradles the right side of his face pulling away from the inky black strands she had so roughly grasped moments ago. Wasn't this ironic?

/You're thoughts really are too loud little one./ her lips curl against his skin and he can't help but follow her lead. Her mouth carefully moved along the length of his throat soothing the large bruise she'd caused, her tongue caressing the puncture marks and the broken skin underneath. She'd almost cost him his life with her reckless feeding. "They don't _love_ me, do they? The way you do."

And just like that the peace was shattered. She spoke quite softly and kept her tone very low. The emotions were his, mostly his and as such couldn't be theirs as well. "You took care of me in the castle. You came to me when I cried." Her fingers gently caressed his right cheek as she removed her lips from his throat and instead brought them up to his ear; the feel of shadows wrapping around his throat telling him she was bandaging hid wound. "You were the one showing me the way, deep down, even if the body as his. You watched over me."

"Yes." What was the point of further denying it? It would all just fall apart either way, whether by lying or telling the truth.

"_And love me_…"

"_**I do.**__"_ The words are spoken before he knows what he's doing. Such a simple play on words and he fell right for it. Vlad sighs closing his eyes. Clever draculina. It wasn't fare, but he deserved it.

"Could I not…" Seras stops herself momentarily pausing and burring her head further into the crock of his neck. "Can I not bite you when you grow up?"

"No draculina." he sighs understanding what it was she was trying to say. He would never grow up and never grow old. His eyes drift shut remembering her words _'Don't call me draculina, you are not my master.'_ Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to care. She would always be his Draculina, the last of the Dragwlya. "I will never grow up."

"I don't want them without you."

"None of us exist Seras. Haven't you figured it out yet? We **are** together. All those emotions because of you, hate, annoyance, pride…love." He sighs. "We each felt them one at a time. Power bacons power and it will be easiest. But I...I won't feel anything in six years. Then and for all the years to come afterwards. And…"

"I don't understand."

"I'll make it right draculina. I promise."

"What?" Seras raises her head from his shoulder gently turning his face towards her with her left hand. So many questions filled her mind, but she didn't get to utter one when the door to their room opened revealing the young apprentice.

"Shit…" the latter curses at the sight of their entangled bodies on the bed.

.

.

To be continued…


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 28**

Here's the next chapter, I'm sorry for the wait since I did say I might post it by the end of September and it's now October, but things got hectic at work and I couldn't find the time to work it. I had to rewrite the ending of this chapter and it turned to be a lot longer than first intended so I had to split in in half.

Chapter rated M for lemon. And the next half of this chapter will definitely be posted by the end of the month if not sooner, this time for real.

Enjoy.

Chapter 28

_"I'll make it right draculina. I promise."_

_"What?" Seras raises her head from his shoulder gently turning his face towards her with her left hand. So many questions filled her mind, but she didn't get to utter one when the door to their room opened revealing the young apprentice._

_"Shit…" the latter curses at the sight of their entangled bodies on the bed._

Seras lay sprawled on top of the young boy, her chest flat on his own intimately pressed against it with her breasts almost spilling from her shit, her long slender legs partially bent and entangled with his, her arms wrapped around his shoulders while his hands held her onto her waist. All she had one were her underwear and a shirt, but the latter was already somewhat pushed aside around her stomach by his hands as he held onto her waist. In short, the scene left little to the imagination.

"Go away." Seras tells him lowering her head to the young prince once more purposely brushing her lips against his cheek close to his ear. Her left hand brushes a few stray strands of raven hair before running the pads of her fingers over his right temple. Vlad's eyes close enjoying the touch and displaying said enjoinment, playing along just as that simple touch demanded.

"I'm here to…to…" it was proving a challenge for the prince not to smirk and laugh out loud at the simple effect Seras's more _indecent_ presence had on the poor man. So easy.

"To what?" Seras demands pulling away from the prince _slowly_ sitting up. This time, her hands are left free to trace across the boy's chest slowly and intentionally while sitting up in the same manner. She repositions her left leg from between his and drapes it over his right hip sitting back down on his lap completely, straightening her back and pushing her chest out further straining that poor button to the breaking point. When done she exhales loudly causing the young man even greater embarrassment with the way her eyelids drop halfway only to open fully once the sound fades into nothingness passing her full blood red lips stained in the boy's blood. As for the latter, he keeps his eyes open following her every move with the greatest fascination without letting go. All he does is to merely loosen the tight grip he has on her waist thus allowing her to sit up after which he carefully places them back on her bare upper thighs, tracing small circles with his thumbs while basking in the utter softness of her skin. The crimson shirt barely reached her hips and being parted in a second upside-down V under her chest left her bellybutton and flat stomach out in the open. And looking up it beheld a similar V exposing the inner swells of her breasts and the base of her throat and clavicles while hugging her chest to perfection. Her skin was utterly pale contrasting with the vibrant red and brought out even further by the veil of pure gold cascading down her right shoulder in both soft curls and straight strands, gold mixed with several stray strands of silver that continued to remain for the moment. The curls especially as they fell directly over right breast in a taunting manner for they could touch while he could not.

"I'm waiting."

"Don't think I wish to be here." Nathaniel hisses at her in return briefly turning his head away from her, red staining his cheeks. Yet try as he might he can't help but look back. "But I need to tell y…"

"By all means, _stay_." Seras challenges him bringing her right hand up to her chest to unhook the button beneath her chest. Her fingers grasp the button ready to undo it while her head tilts back and to the side ever so slightly, eyelids lowering halfway teasingly. It was far too easy.

"No!" Nathaniel shouts reaching out with his right hand in a gesture meant to stop her just as she was about to undue the button. "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you no decency?"

"Why would _anything_ be wrong?" The words shock the acolyte further when accompanied by a fanged smile, fangs that purposely extended in front of him from beneath blood stained lips. The button comes undone and the shirt falls from her shoulders exposing perfectly white creamy flesh though she still holds onto the front keeping a bare minimum part of her chest covered….enough to hold onto a shred of dignity as he put it.

Nathaniel's eyes narrow widely at the sight, for a moment captivating him completely before sense return to him and anger springs fort attempting to mask the embarrassment of finding extremely appealing…arousing. What the hell was wrong with him? He shouts 'Forget this!' and stomps out of the room slamming the door shut after him.

His voice still lingers in the form of an echo one moment longer as he continues to voice his displeasure whilst heading for the stairs before it fades away completely. The door closes and the lock clicks under the influence of Seras's power making sure no one would enter unwelcomed again.

"You shouldn't have played with him like that." the prince teasingly scolds her facing the door with an amused smile on his lips. He expected a witty or sarcastic remark from her in return, but instead found her readjusting her shirt a little so that it stayed on in the same fallen state exposing her shoulders before watching her lean over him yet again. No sooner did he turn his head that she teasingly licked the left side of his throat hoarsely whispering into his ear. "Who said I was?" Her hips grind into his anew. Just because she stopped before didn't mean she couldn't finish what they had stated.

The prince swallowed hard sucking in a deep breath to keep himself from moaning at the feel of her body slowly moving against his. He hadn't expected her to do this. Not again.

"Don't," he tells her griping her thighs trying to stop her. "You can't dahh…" her sharp claws extend on her left hand racking down from his upper abdomen to the lower without breaking the skin, yet strong enough to leave 4 distinct red lines marring his white skin. His muscles twitch and flex beneath her fingers almost immediately and his back involuntarily arches a little, hips bucking up into her as he pushes with his legs against the matters. His grip on her thighs in almost bruising as his eyes close and is head tilts back, lips parting wide.

"Why?" she breathes deeply into his left ear caressing the right side of his face with her right hand, nuzzling the underside of his jaw affectionately while never once stopping to move on to of him grinding their hips together. "You seem to like it."

"I…" he moans loosing all coherent thought when she grinds her hips harder against his, words failing him. His eyes remain shut and head tilted back as his mouth opened and closed with every heavy breath, every sigh he released. His heartbeat was wild and pounding against his ribcage and even as he fought against her he was loosing the battle one breathless sigh at a time. "Please stop…"

"_No..."_ Seras hotly whispers brushing her lips over his in a feathery touch while cupping the other side of his face as well. And though her words refuse him she momentarily stops swaying her hips taking in the utter flushed expression of the young prince starring back at her from behind lidded eyelids cloud in ever growing desire: the rosy blush on is cheeks, the glossy expression in his eyes, and the full and parted lips showing more color than before. Gazing deeply into his eyes…fear is there along with utter and complete vulnerability. And it was beautiful to look at. And perhaps…one more reason why he did it himself the first time, as strange as it was.

Blue eyes searched her face with an almost palpable desperation for her to stop. Seras leans in return winding her arms on either side of his head pressing her entire weight against him, her breast cushioned against his chest. A long and comfortable silence descends as she presses a kiss to his forehead feeling the rapid beat of his heart pound against her ribcage.

"I was not this kind to you." He whispers silently apologizing for his actions against her to which Seras smiles kindly and leans down brushing the left side of her face against his cheek. "In any form."

"I would not have had you without trembling as you are now. As I did."

"Seras…."

"There is a memory I cannot forget." She interrupts him, yet it isn't' her words that capture his attention but the serious tone of her voice and the unmistakable sense of regret lining her words. "I watched them die. Two men came and shot them both. One of them raped my mother. I watched…" her voice breaks and her fingers tighten their grip on the pillow and inadvertently pull on several raven strands making him grimace though he remained silent about it. "My mother hid me in the closet, but I came out once they were shot and took a fork to one of them stabbing him in the eye. The other shot me." Seras swallowed hard before whispering. "I lay dying in a pool of my own blood as one of them raped her corps."

The prince gasps at the sudden admission despite having witness that memory and more already. "I know you've seen it."

_You bastard you raped her!_

_"I'll tear you apart as I did that fucking eye of yours!"_

_"Get off….off…._

_"DON'T TOUCH ME!" _

"I know you felt it." She adds. The pain he'd felt her soul emit….the truth was he hadn't though much of at the time. She'd gone completely berserk and whatever plagued her mind hadn't been his top priority. His task was to stop and due whatever it took to accomplish it. Integra would have had her life otherwise and still she came close to utter destruction. Had Walter not survived…

"He shot me in the stomach. I still…" the sound of her voice catches his attention focusing it on her right hand which had somehow left the side of his face without him knowing and took his placing his palm over her stomach close to her bellybutton where a faint scar left by the bullet had once been. Her pause said what she could not.

"He kept on taking her. Ramming into her panting and laughing. And it wasn't just once. The other just watched..."

"You don't have to." The prince tries to stop her from uttering the rest. There wasn't a point to it any longer. All it did was bring out the darkest memory and greatest fear. The very reason he wasn't worth her kindness. He violated that trust, the trust that he would never harm her in such a way, rape her. Not when he himself had suffered a similar gruesome fate. But he had hurt her despite his very first intention to simply offer her comfort and pleasure in an effort to save her sanity, to give her peace. Everything after that had unfortunately gone horribly wrong when her mind broke completely and r…

"I understand." Her lips brush against the crook of his neck on the left side taking him by surprise yet again since the majority of his attention was focused on his hand pressing up against her toned stomach. "Why you fear and why you tremble." Her lips moved against his skin with each syllable she spoke forcing him to shut his eyes and swallow heavily once more. "I never wanted men touching me. It didn't want to lie there as she did. Not even with you."

"I'm sorry." And every syllable was uttered with a heavy heart racked with the guilt of his sin, one never to be washed away in spite of forgiveness already granted. He should have protected her instead of hurting her.

_Never again, don't cry._

_Mom…._

_Mom… _

_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry…_

Seras's lips curl against the underside of his jaw in the form of a small smile he suddenly feels so very ashamed at enjoying.

"I had only your memory of it at first." She gently moves his hand from her stomach back over her hip while her thighs tighten their grip around his hips at the same time holding him down. "But as time went on I started remembering other things. More, after you first showed me the truth. And in time everything you showed changed." Briefly pausing her left hand lets go the pillow casing and the back of her fingers started caressing his right cheek. "Touch became different and I didn't tremble in your arms. I wasn't afraid of you or to have you as a part of me." The crimson in her eyes shines capturing his and briefly turning them crimson as she takes over his mind _showing_ him as he once showed her. The prince quietly gasps as the images are reawakened inside his mind, but it's not the imagery itself that take him so greatly by surprise. It's the emotion hidden behind them….emotion that for once would belong to her and her alone.

Flashback

_Seras's left hand cupping the entire since of her master's face, her fingers placing light pressure against his cheek as her lips grow in strength and boldness and mimic every move his expertly make; her body burning within from the blood she's taken. Alucard's left hand trails down the shapes and contours of her body from her neck down her shoulder, chest and abdomen until his fingers reach the remainder of the crumpled cape around her hips. The long, elegant appendages leave burning marks in their path as they skillfully trace her skin until they reach the outer line of her thigh and then move all the way up to her bent knee where he allows his palm to spread out wide over the highly sensitive flesh before trailing back down again. Their hips grinding perfectly against another._

Flashback end

"You taught me this. To **feel** more than I show." She breaks off leaving him with that particular image in mind. His heart was frantic and pounding at an almost intolerable rhythm against his ribcage pumping all that fresh warm blood into his system. Every erratic breath pushed his chest into hers and each time she teasingly swayed her hips he moved with her pushing into the mattress, squeezing her thighs and parting his lips swallowing one breathless sigh after another. "All the emotions were yours." She briefly kisses him joining their lips in a feather like touch as she conveys a particular strong emotion into his mind seconds before grazing his bottom lip with the tips of her fangs earning herself two perfectly round bead of blood. The moment he claimed her.

_He trusts and the kiss shared is broken, the smallest of gasps escaping her as her lips part and her head tilts backwards._

"But you've yet to see mine." The way his eyes widen at those words won't ever be forgotten. It's as if she's divulged a great fear or terrible secret and by the mere feel of his blood coursing through his veins she knew all she had to do was push just a little bit further. So many flavors, such different tastes altogether and all into the essence that was the scent of her master's blood. Both human and vampire his blood was divine both before and after he'd once again robbed her of her purity. Devine was limited to the concept of existence and understanding and as such a sin in the same sentence with his blood. The taste was still fresh on the tip of her tongue and the scent lingered in the room and the very air she breathed_._

Her lips descend capturing his swallowing the sound of his broken voice. He might have shown her the images and the feel off his own emotions, sensations and possibly some of hers as well through the blood they shared, but he never truly had the capacity to convey the genuine extent of her emotions during that intimate moment. She allowed him to experience it all down to the very last touch...the very last breath. Her mind was finally completely open to his eyes. And a piece of it was finally whole for once.

And in the end, whether it was release or rapture barely mattered and couldn't come close to describing the pleasure written all over the prince's face. Silent tears fell form the corners of his eyes as his lips parted wider in a long breathless moan pushing his head back on the soft pillow.

"Please stop…" he pleads with her once more, but his words are swallowed when her mouth captures his in a searing, heated kiss, her tongue curling around his.

"No." her answer once again the same as the kiss is broken and her lips curl in a rather mischievous smile he has no power to stop.

"Draculina please d…."

"Wrong name." they are her last words before the sound of his own voice overshadows it in the form of a curse quickly followed by a loud gasp and a sharp inhale, all of this in the wake of her nails scratching against his abdomen once more trailing even lower, so dangerously close to the low hem of his pants.

"Let me."

"You're not meant to be mine." Pleading was all he could hold onto at this moment. He didn't want to…

"Have me and I will be." She hoarsely breathes against his lips and his once again utterly distracted from the movement of her right until she's carefully cradling him in the palm of her hand _squeezing and stroking_ and his lower back arches into her touch with a deep inhale and groan. Blue eyes snap open without fail at the forbidden touch only to close immediately after with yet another deep throated moan in the wake of the gentle caress as her fingers tighten around him; his chest expanding pushing against hers and her weight on top of him as her lips trace a ghostly pattern along his full bottom lip which he bites in order to stifle his groans.

_"Seras…" _Her name on his lips is all he can manage in the form of a breathless and beautiful moan before she captures his lips in another searing and heated kiss that plunges his world in the blissful pleasure only her body could offer. He's los and the heat and the slide are his downfall as the tightness imprisoned him to a world of pleasure the young prince himself had never experienced. A pleasure his older, more experienced selves were more than aware of.

But with him being so young, he'd never felt the _pleasure_ of a woman's body. He knew only pain and sorrow and yet…perhaps….pain _**can**_ be washed away. The more she moved, the deeper she took him and the harder her thighs clamped down on his hips the lesser the pain became…the lesser power that _one_ memory had.

"_Forget_…" he barely registers it when Seras sits up pushing against his abdomen with her left hand whilst her right hand takes hold of his left already atop her thigh and skillfully moves it over the curve of her bare hip where she keeps it in place as she moves atop him. The retched greasy grin and moustache would no longer exist in his world; a failed and forgotten memory of no worth or consequence. There is but heat and tightness and the slide, breaths lost to heated kisses and starving lungs, his legs pushing against the mattress helping his own hips move….her name falling from his lips over and over again in the most surreal kind of pleasure his young soul had even experienced.

Gods he's lost…..So deeply and utterly lost his mind can think of nothing but the heat and the slide and the way her warm thighs clamp around his lean hips each time she moves atop him taking him deeper and deeper. His voice too gets lost somewhere along the way and he's unable to reply to the small chuckle Seras's voice portrays before kissing him again swallowing whatever was left of his sorrow and pain. He had forever wandered how her skin felt, how it would feel should he ever get the change to touch it instead of simply having to console himself with watching from afar. The simple act of taking her hand or hugging her put all those 'what ifs' to shame and now…

"Shitaahhhh!" Vlad gasps out loud arching his back before biting his bottom lips hard to the point of drawing blood, his cry turning into a long and husky groan. His blunt nails sink into her tender flesh and every muscle in his body tensed beneath her in an unexpected tidal wave of pleasure that grounds him completely to the bed. His face flushes, cheeks hot and burning red with a few stray strands of black hair clinging to his moist forehead from the thin layer of sweat covering his body.

He was trembling. He was actually trembling numb from the sweet exertion.

The pounding of his heart was louder than ever before and perfectly matching the throbbing in his lower abdomen as he came. The movement of his chest felt erratic and wild beneath the palm of her left hand, his warm breath caressing her lips in several rapid puffs never noticing her lowered head once the deed was done. Heaven was not a white light at the end of the tunnel. Heaven was a warm soothing touch engulfing your soul into its depths.

His eyes had yet to open, his lips were parted moving with each breath he took, two stray tears streaming down his face over each cheek. And his hands still held on to her tightly as one would a precious lifeline. The sight alone forced a smile to appear on the draculina's lips; a beautiful sight indeed. One more reason she was willing to forgive and forget. He'd done this too and it had been her face he had watched in the aftermath of sincere, joined pleasure.

So Seras patiently waits for his heart to slow down, for his breath to calm and his eyes to open. She moves her left hand form his stomach up to his chest spreading her fingers wide until she finds the source of the wild and distinctive rhythm and feels it gently beating against her open palm. She gently leans down nuzzling the left side of his face offering a content purr and smiling when he took a deep breath and leaned into her touch finally opening his eyes. His whole body shook in the wake of pure, innocent pleasure from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, shaking in something other than horrid pain and shame for once in his young lifetime.

"Now we're even." Seras brushes her lips over his in a fleeting and simple touch before deepening it once he responded kissing her back. A moment later she breaks the heated kiss burying her head back into the crook of his neck whispering promise into his left ear. "I won't let you go." Her hand squeezes his in a comforting gesture entwining their fingers together in the form of a promise. "Even if you change I'll be here, always. _I'll see you_." She whispers in the end stretching her body over his without breaking their connection just yet. The warmth had yet to pass. "And I'll _**make them see**_."

"I don't need you to." Vlad tells her fully aware of the situation he found himself in. The scent of her hair was heavenly as it filled his lungs to the brink, the feel of her body resting atop his in the wake and disbelief of sheer ecstasy coursing through his veins amazing. His heartbeat slowly returned to normal along with his breathing, but the delightful numbness in his limbs wasn't something he was willing to let go of just yet. And if possible, he would hold onto it till the end of time.

"You're so soft..." His eyes close with that statement letting his fingers see for him instead. He finds it easy to break free of her hold and move his left hand up along the curve of her spine and the dip of her slender waist before heading towards the curve of her spine which he traced slowly under the fabric of the crimson shirt partially covering her.

"Touch me then." She opens the door wide offering him the chance to make the decision himself. A chance he yet again declines in full knowledge and understanding of his station.

"This is enough." The prince's eyes remain closed in simple satisfaction inhaling the sweet scent of her golden hair, content and at peace. His arms wrap around her lower back squeezing her tight for a single moment was worth a lifetime. One moment, this moment, was enough for all time.

"You're warm inside me." The words prompt him to slowly open his eyes and stop his administrations upon her back, his fingers no longer tracing the silken texture of her skin and his cheeks tainting in a light blush. He's left without words at that particular statement not knowing exactly what to say in return. He had neither planed nor expected this kind of _gesture_ on her behalf and now that he had he was caught between indulging in it once more and simply accepting that which transpired as a one in a lifetime _kindness_.

His thoughts are put to rest though when Seras bites on his left ear lobe successfully piercing it and earning herself another small drop of blood for her trouble.

"Love me until the day you hurt me."

And just like that the decision is swiftly and effectively taken out of his hands. Seras's arms tighten around him responding to his embrace and her fangs lengthen pressed up against the underside of his jaw just as he feels the wrappings around his throat disappearing.

Her fangs sink in.

.

.

"No one is here." Vlad's voice echoes in the empty living room sometime later as he descends down the stairs looking around. The small parish was empty, the rooms as well and not even Seras could feel anyone close by. Perhaps the draculina should have let the acolyte speak his mind first instead of scaring him away with images unfit for a future priest's eyes.

/I sense no one./ the kitten purrs into his mind as her soft fur presses against the underside of his jaw. She sat comfortably atop her master's shoulder, softly purring and paws sinking in the equally soft, black turtleneck mohair sweater he was wearing. Vlad only nods weakly smiling, his blue eyes full of emotion. He was far too content to care. Her words after they had…well they had meant so much...

He would hold onto them, always.

The touch of gentle fingers upon his right cheek brought him out of his thoughts, yet by the time he raises his head to look up soft lips pressed a tender kiss to his forehead and twin arms wrap themselves around his shoulders pulling him into a warm embrace. Seras cradles his head against her chest tenderly stroking his silken raven hair with her right hand in a soothing gesture. Her clothing no longer consisted of simple black leather and crimson shirt but a form fitting cream colored mohair sweater reaching down to the upper part of her thigh much like her former uniform skirt had done. The upper part though, hung low on her shoulders exposing the black turtle neck blouse she had underneath and the sleeves were long ending a little over the back of her fingers. Her legs were in the same silken black stockings she had worn with her uniform. Vlad's arms slowly wrap themselves around her middle and lower back in return holding her tight.

"It's alright…" she lovingly whispers feeling his grip tighten around her waist.

"I'm _afraid_." Truer words had never been spoken and for once he wasn't afraid to utter them.

"I know."

Flashback

_/Is something wrong? / Bright, large blue eyes stared at the humble reflection in the mirror from the side, the white color of her fur clashing against the black of prince's black turtle neck mohair sweater as the latter stood behind her. His eyes too were unmoving whilst starring at his own reflection. His left hand held the high collar of his sweater down looking at the perfectly white bandages wrapped around his throat once again. He stood in front of a small cupboard next to the sink over which a long rectangular mirror hung on the wall behind it. The kitten remained quite while perched on top of the cupboard with her left side facing the mirror, her ears slowly lowering halfway without molding themselves on the top of her head. Her small paws moved a little over white top like anxious fingers in ones lap nervously grasping the fabric of ones clothes._

_"No draculina." He kindly whispers in return. His eyes were deep in thought and lost to the reflection staring back at him as he stood there unmoving like a beautiful marble statue. He was focused and he continued to look on in silence even after slowly reaching out with his right hand and placing his palm on the cold surface of the mirror before him. He looks on for a moment longer then lowers his head to look at her with a soft smile, allowing his hand to drop._

_"I was merely looking at what was lost." he adds tilting his head just a little to the right ignoring the immediate sting it brought. Afterwards he reaches out with his right hand to touch her right ear brushing the soft pink interior enlisting a gentle purr. He indulges in the moment then traces the curve of her spine down to the tip of her small rope like tail with his left hand feeling her back arch beneath his touch. The look in his eyes was soft and content seeing her tiny body lean into his touch, the tip of her tail curling and her small black button nose unknowingly twitching every few seconds. _

_"Come." He offers scooping her up afterwards and placing her safely on his left shoulder before heading out of the bathroom. Not quite used to the position atop his shoulder the kitten has a bit of trouble keeping her balance while perched so high, her hind legs slip forcing her claws to extend and sink in deeply into the soft sweater and shirt beneath succeeding in pricking his skin despite the protective layers of clothing in an effort to hold on. Her front claws dig into his shoulder just atop his collar bone while the hind ones scratch over his left his shoulder blade a few times in an effort to pushes herself upward. _

_"Draculina…" the prince scolds her holding in the slight hiss that threatened to pass his lips from the sudden and unexpected sting searing his shoulder. He turns his head and reaches out with his right hand to her picking her up by the scuff of her neck and helps her up back on his shoulder. The scratches were small just like her claws and the marks they left barely visible, the sting being in their case the worst part of her little accident. With a last lingering touch on the top of her head the prince moves on opening the bedroom door and stepping into the hall._

Flashback end

"Please stay with me." No mater what. Please…Please stay. The need was desperate and his plea more than genuine. The light tremble in his shoulders…he wasn't certain when or why it started, but he was grateful for making Seras tighten her hold around him.

"_**I will**_." She solemnly promises. "If you'd rather stay…"

"No." the prince gently interrupts her turning his head a little so that the right side of his face snuggled against the middle of her chest. A the same time his right hand trails up along the curve of her spine until it reaches the middle of her back taking hold of the soft wool of her sweater holding it tight. Seras merely nods in understanding dropping the matter altogether, treading her fingers through his soft raven hair. If he _loved_ then the rest could be _made_ to love as well, or in the least learn to _care_ in their own way.

"I need to get out." he replies in a solemn tone pulling back from her embrace and moving passed her heading for the locked kitchen door. He was so tired of the blue eyes starring back each time he gazed into a mirror. A whiff of black smoke brushed against the underside of his jaw in a fleeting, comforting touch and he responds to it by raising his right hand to his left shoulder and scratching behind the kittens left ear enlisting a soft purr. "Open the door." Taking but a second more to enjoy the soft cares Seras's eyes flash red and both the lock and the door open on their own not a moment later. The ground was covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow, the air cold yet inviting and fresh as it filled his lungs. Black boots formed on his white sock clad feet and a black trench appeared over his sweater. The coat reached about mid thigh with twin rows of round, black buttons in the front and a v shaped collar as well as a crimson scarf tied around his throat twice with the ends hanging over his left shoulder, one in front and the other in the back. And as the prince stepped out onto the porch his boots sank into the virgin layer of snow from the night before and the tiny kitten quickly sought shelter beneath the lower hem of his scarf cuddling into the warm fabric while pressing up against the left side of his throat. Only her head peered out from her makeshift cocoon, yet given the weather that too might soon disappear leaving only a tiny, black button nose in its place.

The small backward was quite though once could still hear the buzzing sound of the city in the distance.

/You love snow./ the sound of her voice draws his attention to her and the prince lightly tilts his head in her direction, yet without turning his gaze away from the clear sky and the first in a row of new snowflakes slowly beginning to descend from above. /I remember that. And I remember you promised….you'll take me _home_ one day./ she finishes her sentence with a gentle purr snuggling just a little further into the ever growing warmth of the crimson scarf. /It's fuzzy, but I remember the sound of your voice more than the actual words themselves./

Flashback

_"I'll take you __**home**__ one day Seras. Show you true beauty hidden amongst the safety of the clouds and the strength of the mountains. I'll take you where you belong and show you everything."_

Flashback end

A gentle breeze passes the prince rustling his hair in a tender caress as he too remembers, the snowflakes landing on top of his head and forehead as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back a bit. The snow had cleared the air and all he could smell was cold and winter instead of the usual fog and fumes filling London's air. Winter smelled the same, but the land never could. It held beauty in its own way, yet still could not compare to what _home_ truly was. Home was freedom.

Just as his deep voice had once whispered to her on top of the world.

Flashback

_"The wild untamed wind and untouched forest reaching towards the sky and descending back down to earth afterwards. Stars brighter than anywhere else in the world, still waiting to be looked at and admired. The moon so close you could almost touch it from a distance. And in winter Police girl…"_

Flashback end

"In winter nothing is more beautiful. All covered in white with no more distance between heaven and earth." The young prince smiles opening his bright blue eyes looking at the heavens above and recollecting the words he'd once spoken atop a mountain. The warmth of his breath comes out in the form of a small white cloud as he speaks and with those words he remembers the look on his draculina's face: the yearning and desire to see for herself. Just like a real child picturing their favorite fairytale as their mother read to them before bed. One day…one day…she would see his world beyond the pains of forgotten ruins and abandoned walls meant to hide them both from the world.

The kitten's gentle purr accompanied those words a moment longer before Vlad lowered his head and began walking forward slipping both hands into his pockets, his shoulder long wavy raven hair dancing in the gentle breeze catching stray snowflakes as though they were beaded pearls.

/Where to master?/ Seras questions letting her tiny ears drop and her body to sway with the movement of his shoulders, her personal lullaby.

"Nowhere."

.

.

To be continued…


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 29**

New chapter's up. I wrote a longer one this time, though I originally wanted to cut in half. In the end, I found it better to leave it as it is.

Enjoy.

Chapter 29

It's sometime later after walking in silence along the streets of the city that the two reach the wide open space of a vast park. Here the pathways were cleared, the snow having been pushed aside and the underlining stone bricks partially visible beneath the thin layer of white powder still covering them. Most of the trees and the bushes were beautifully decorated with various layers of lights which would only reveal their true nature at night. Few people crossed the prince's path as he slowly walked along the brick path, his arms still in his pockets and his breath coming out through his nose in small puffs, his raven hair filled with pearl beads fallen from above. During their entire walk as Seras had her eyes closed, ears down and her tiny body curled in a perfect ball nestled against the crook of his neck beneath the soft fabric of his scarf making with nothing but her nose sticking out neither had said a more since leaving the church grounds. And the silence between them was perfectly comfortable.

The snow crepitates beneath the soles of his boots with each one of his steps until he comes to a halt in next to a small bench overlooking the small frozen lake to his left. There he takes a moment before partially turning his head over his left shoulder to peer over it at the small group of persecutors who'd been following him ever since entering this side of the park minutes ago.

"I suggest you don't." his tone was hard, yet calm and demanding and the words spoken with regal determination. His blue eyes partially narrowed peering from behind his long black bangs. A group of 4 boys stood behind him each holding onto or playing with a freshly made snowball: one roughly closer to his age though he wasn't quite certain, and the other three closer to 15 or 16. They were all holding freshly made snowballs in their hands. Only a few people cruised the park other than him and the small group of troublemakers, but the adults were hardly interested in a children's snowball fight.

The prince's lips curl in a very subtle manner; he proudly and defiantly stands his ground in a regal posture looking down at the four in amusement.

"And if we don't, what then?" the eldest of the group speaks up snickering. "You'll run to you mom crying?"

"She's dead." Vlad replies nonchalantly without a hint of emotion regarding the subject. He then, quite out of character for such a situation, smiles. A wide and amused smile accompanied by the same mocking grin and chuckle. "But will you? I'm sure her skirt is nice and warm." And with that being said he moves to turn around and continue his walk only to be stopped a second time.

"Watch what you say." A different boy speaks up, the resemblance between himself and the older boy quite evident; the two brothers, one seemingly older by a year or two than the other.

"Why?" the prince counters. "Does she have to come out here and scold me otherwise? Or are you so feeble and pathetic she has to do everything for you?"

"We'll show you whose feeble you little bastard."

Once again the prince remains detached and not offended at the failed attempt to rattle him up. "You are amusing. Fools," he pauses for a tiny second. "But quite amusing none the less. And unlike you I know my lineage quite well."

The sudden onslaught of sound to her sensitive ears woke the tiny kitten who'd been half asleep resting so very comfortably perched up on her master's shoulder. Finally, a few moments rest. She was so very tired. Her right ear twitched first and then her small nose scrunched up in an effort to further drown the sound just a little bit longer. Her tiny body wiggled uncurling under the cover of the scarf trying do fall back asleep, but the changes in her master's tone implied his involuntary participation in a situation he had no desire of being in. Ears twitching against the top of her hear she stretches with a faint yawn, a whimper, before emerging from under the warm crimson fabric, shaking her fur and hardly managing to stand up. Only her head, front limbs and upper part of her torso become visible, her tiny ears flicking up revealing the pale pink interior for a second. Her eyes open just briefly before closing anew as she lowers herself back down on his shoulder resting her tiny head on her even smaller front paws with yet another whimper. So tired…

She didn't notice the 4 pairs of eyes starring at her master in anger, neither saw their confused gaze when regarding her. They were fuming and yet she could really remember the words they had spoken; they had all been muffled sounds she'd tried to avoid hearing; words that kept hindering her peaceful sleep.

"What the hell is that?" another boy of the group eventually asks pointing a finger in her direction as though he'd never seen a kitten before. Granted, her body was small and with the perfectly white coat she seemed more like an albino mouse from a distance instead of a cat. "Some freaky mutant rat? Your girlfriend perhaps you little runt?"

"My draculina." Vlad tells them full of pride as his smile turns from a grin to a smirk. His voice never falters and his voice remains soft as he effortlessly interprets Seras's lazy actions as sleep depraved. All this time she had been watching him, putting his needs before her own and always guarding his sleep without considering hers. He turns his gaze from the boys peering down at the half exposed bundle of pristine white fur and black button nose twitching from time to time sampling the air, a gesture beyond endearing and very cat like. His left arm easily comes up to her level and strokes over her small head with the pad of his index finger softly enlisting a very light purr in response. Both scent and touch are enough for the tiny creature to recognize _home_. "And I would advise you to mind your tongue or fear loosing it. Do _not_ wake her." He warns them all looking back and for a brief instance all 4 felt an unnatural chill run down their spine. And whether it was due to his words, the tone of his voice or the serious look in his narrowed icy blue eyes, none would know for certain.

"Draculina?" the other boy asks a moment later with a clear look of confusion written all over his face. "What the fuck's a draculina?" he turns to the closest to him for answers, yet he too merely shrugged his shoulders in lack of answer.

"Who cares?" The elder interferes stepping forward. "We can play with it later. Set it on fire or tie sand to its feet. It doesn't matter."

/Master?/ Seras softly asks half asleep as the group of boys begin to approach them anew. She lifts her head up until she's able to presses the top of it against the underside of his jaw in an affectionate manner softly purring. By now their scents were getting stronger the closer they came and it was disturbing her more and more. She had been so comfortable, so warm basked in nothing more than the prince's warmth and scent. /Do you wish me to…/

"No draculina." he replies out loud. "I would not wish your fur stained by infidel's blood." He smirks tilting his head just a little itching for a fight. At the same time, for just a second only, he could swear he felt the slight discomfort in his human canines as though they were on the verge on lengthening.

"Damn he's even talking to that cat. Nut job." The eldest of the group attempted to reach out and grab him by the crimson scarf wrapped around his throat with his right hand only to be stopped dead in his tracks and swiftly jerked onto his back on the snow covered ground. A beautiful woman with long and flowing golden hair with silver highlights cascading down her back and shoulders hovered over him and it was all he remembered after making a move on the raven haired boy. The black leather coat she wore trailed down her body behind her as she pushed the left side off to the side exposing her right leg, the black silk thigh high stockings and the long white gun strapped to her thigh: the Casull. The form fitting cashmere sweater hugged her figure molding itself over her curves perfectly reaching down to the upper part of her thigh. And with short and elegant black boots matching her new coat the outfit seemed even more ideal in exposing her long and slender legs. She held the teen down with her right leg pressing against the middle of his chest while the left stood next to the left side of his ribcage. And as she took the gun out of its holster, cocking it with her fangs instead of her hand, shadows spread out from under her legs tripping the rest of the tree then stringing them up like apples upside-down and finally gagging them to keep them quite. The sound of the gun cocking was the loudest he'd ever heard and the look in the woman's bright crimson eyes murderous.

"Do _**not**_ **touch** my master." She says sending chills down his spine. His heart all but stopped once the barrel of the gun was pointed directly at his face and the safety removed with a definite click.

**.**

**.**

The wooden floor creaked as a small pair snow covered boots trample over them in hurry while running up the stairs and then down they hall towards one of the last rooms in the hall. The boots belonged to a small girl around 10 years old with cream colored yellow hair tied up in twin braided pigtails hanging down her shoulders and emerald green eyes carrying a pink blanket and bundle safely wrapped within. Closing the doom of her room the young girl places the bundle on top of her bed, the back of her right hand bleeding from the three scratches marring it; scratches made by the small and seemingly harmless kitten upon capture. She'd been waiting for her master when a small pair of hands suddenly grabbed her snatching her up from the bench and placing the blanket over her.

Flashback

_"Careful with that gun Seras. I would not want you __**accidentally**__ harming anyone." The prince spoke unable to hide the gin plastered al over his face as he walked alongside his draculina circling the frozen lack where several people skated upon._

_"If I do, it won't be an accident." Seras replies causing the boy to chuckle at her response as she places the gun back into the holster strapped to her right thigh before anyone saw it._

_"I've handled worse." Vlad tells her placing both hands back into his pockets for warmth._

_"They were pissing me of." Seras sighs still a bit cranky for being woken by their ear screeching voices. "And I was tired."_

_"Come and sleep then." He offers softly putting his shoulder back at her disposal._

_"If I change now people will have a fit." There were too many onlookers around the lake. She couldn't just disappear in thin air in front of them._

_"Then I will wait here." Vlad tells her tuning to the bench on his right overlooking the lack where he took a seat stretching his legs and expecting her to walk away and put some distance between them before changing. What he didn't expect was for her to take hold of his face and place a lingering kiss over his forehead with a soft 'alright' before doing it. Except for that one ostentatious show of affection meant to unsettle the acolyte earlier that day they'd never shared any form of public affection before._

_So he watches her go, hips swaying as she went, not yet realizing he would be waiting a while for her to return._

Flashback end

Fighting against her captor would have been easy and to call for her master even easier to accomplish had she wished it. Instead she didn't and merely stopped struggling against the child after scratching her hands really good. The taste and scent of her blood had simply been much to interesting to ignore. It was familiar, though she couldn't quite put her finger on the moment she first came in contact with it. It wasn't right to leave me master alone, but she couldn't shake the feeling of dread hanging off this young girl.

"You're warm now." The young girl says uncovering the blanket and revealing the white fur and large expressive blue eyes. "I'll look after you, don't worry."

The kitten sat still and unmoving content to simply curl and uncurl the tip of her tail for the moment and tilt her head to the side examining the child standing in front of her. "I'm going home today. My brother's coming to get me. See, I've already packed." Gesturing behind her to her unfinished packing the girl moved away form the bed and started to undress taking off her thick pink winter jacket, her green and pink checkered scarf and matching hat form her head.

"The orphanage is not that bad compared to others I've hear about, but brother made sure I was taken care off."

It was only after the girl stepped back that the ret of the room came into view: a twin bed room with peach colored walls and new wooden floors, pictures hanging off the walls and a tiny, decorated plastic Christmas tree on the window sill. The girl kept on talking some more moving from one side of the room to the other picking up various little knickknacks left to right packing and depositing them in the open suitcase at the foot of the bed on a nearby chair, but Seras wasn't really paying attention. She uncoiled her body and tiptoed towards the edge of the bed looming over the edge. The room itself unnerved her bringing unwanted reflections especially when he bright colors of the wall began to flicker and take on more dark and pale ones, the bed spreads changed, the room itself far less inviting….

And when the door of the room opened, slightly squeaking, she almost expected a spiteful nun to step in and in sheer reflex moved away from the edge, her small body tensing all up and her fur standing up. The woman who entered however had chocolate brown hair tied in a side braid over her right shoulder and dark rimed glasses over her brown eyes. She wore a green sweater and dark blue jeans. The white of Seras's fur blended in perfectly with the white comforter keeping her out of the woman's immediate sight.

"Mother superior wants to see you Josie. Come along." She speaks softly with a gentle smile.

"Butt I still have to…" she almost picked up the kitten, but the woman took her by the left hand and gently pulled her along." It can wait, don't' worry. Everything will still be here."

The door closed behind them basking the room in silence. Minutes passed, 1, 2, 5 then 10, and then the window of the room blew open startling her as cold air suddenly entered the room. It closed with a thud a moment later and a small group of flakes fell to the floor in front of a pair of black boots.

"This is strangely familiar, isn't it now?" Vlad's footsteps are very light as he pushes the long curtain aside revealing himself in front of the closed window, his voice soothing the tiny creatures ears as she quickly crosses the bed heading for the edge once more; her master awaiting arm already extended for her to reach. Of course climbing up the side of the building hadn't been the easiest feat to accomplish while human, but the girl's room wasn't that high up and her window overlooked a small perch.

"I would appreciate it greatly not leaving without a word next time little one." The prince scolds her easily picking his kitten up in his right palm while using his other to help steady her. It hadn't been easy finding her and tracking her footsteps in the snow had taken a bit of time. Then, after the tiny imprints had vanished, he had only to follow the bookmarks inlayed in the snow all the way to the orphanage. "Now, why here draculina?"

/Her blood told me so./ She tells him once she's settled into his open palm before quickly climbing up his left arm to take her place back on his shoulder, her body snuggling into the softness of his crimson scarf and its beautiful scent once more. /I think _her blood_ hurt me./

The amusement left his face at the serious tone within her voice. There wasn't much certainty to accompany them, more a feeling she had of knowing the blood of that girl was familiar in some way. "Her blood?" it's all he manages to ask while turning his head to look at her when the door opens anew and the same woman as before steps in carrying a brown paper bag in her right hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she immediately questions the child she's never seen before. How had he gotten in?

"Reclaiming my property." He answers her with a small intake of breath, annoyance trailing behind each word. He had no time for such foolishness. At the same time he steps forward without a second glance almost managing to pass her when she speaks again attempting to block his way.

"What property? What are you..."

"The kitten is mine." He speaks up wanting to end the useless discussion, but both his attention and his words aren't offered to her and instead to the small girl he noticed coming up behind the woman. He would not have his things taken from him.

"No she's not." Josie counters quickly defending her previous actions. "I found her."

"You took her."

"I found her Miss Lena." Her attention turns to the brown haired woman. "She was alone in the park, I promise."

The woman in question opened her mouth ready to intervene between them, but the prince was once again much faster.

"She was there because I deemed it so. We got separated." He was loosing his patience. His tone remained serious and unmoving despite the pleading and almost weeping tone of the child before him. How he despised groveling. More so people defending their action by using the god damned phrase 'I promise' as though it were their salvation. Nothing good ever came out of those words only misery.

"Josie, you're not allowed to take things that don't belong to you. You know that." Lena turns around taking hold of the girl's left shoulder bringing her in front of her.

"But I didn't a…" she pleads, eyes wide and glassy, but Lena continues to speak her part addressing the strange raven haired boy next.

"And neither are you. There's no collar or anything on that cat. And how did you get in here?"

"I walked." Vlad replies mischievously grinning and perfect set of _dull_ white teeth.

"That is not enough."

"Then take her." he suddenly raises his tone daring the woman to take way his draculina. He reaches for her gently picking her off his shoulder and offering her to the woman in the simple gesture of handing her over. All that mattered to him was uncovering what Seras's words had meant and who had hurt his Childe.

/Master?/ Seras asks the woman's hands quickly grab her around the middle and remove her from her master's touch. She's ready to struggle and sink her claws and her teeth into the woman's hands if need be, but his tone puts a quick end to her plan.

"If she's yours you will know her name and she'll come to you." He tells the girl. "If not she's mine and she'll come to me."

"But that's not fair…" girl begins only to be brutally cut off.

"Then she **is** _mine_." He would _not_ be held back any longer.

"No!" girl shouts in anger before demanding Lena put kitten down. She then calls the kitten using the name she though to call it all the way coming from the park: Lolli

Yet regardless of the name, the gentle and expecting tone used by the little girl and even the encouraging hand gesture Seras remains unmoving looking straight at her curling her tail around her front legs.

"Lolli come." But she remains just as motionless. "Come here little one." Nothing…

"_Cneajna_." the prince softly whispers, his blue eyes lacking the emotionless stare previously given to both the woman and the girl. They were warm, gentle and filled with kindness. He could not risk uttering her true name for anyone, but a different name, one she would recognize beyond the shadow of a doubt was well within his reach. And what better name than one held so close and dear to heart: Cneajna. She would know and understand the meaning.

Blue eyes met blue and for the briefest of seconds Seras stayed in silence with her right ear offering the smallest of twitches before she slowly uncurled her body and stepped forward towards her master.

"Cneajna_?_" woman repeats with much difficulty, the word far too foreign for her to fully repeat with the same grace and elegance as the prince had not seconds ago. From the mere sound of it was foreign and yet unlike the few foreign languages she'd come in touch with. She couldn't even pronounce it quickly.

"_Cneajna_." he purposely says it again making sure the inferior woman did not get the Princess's name wrong once again. His pride as the last of the royal line of Walachia demanded it. He doesn't even spare her a glance while correcting her. He leans forward extending his left hand to the kitten once more and catching her up once she quickened her pace and jumped into his awaiting hand. Seras meowed happily finding her spot back on his shoulder and affectionately rubbing her head against the underside of his jaw with a content and loud purr that seemed to fill the room. It was the loudest statement of ownership anyone could have asked for.

The moment is broken though by noise coming from the first floor of the building. It prompted Lena to go and investigate, but not before telling both children to stay put until she returned.

"The draculina is mine." Vlad then whispers watching sternly as the woman departs before fixing his gaze back on the 10 year old girl.

"_Draculina_?" he's greeted again by the same question ushered by the rowdy boys in the park not long ago. Had none of them any idea what a 'draculina' was? Passed history and rich stories included? Had none learned anything from the war decades ago?

"Beautiful, is she not?" he asks her while the kitten softly meows and keeps her large blue eyes fixed one the child before as she settles in the crook of his neck, sinking into the welcoming fabric of his scarf and allowing her hind legs to stretch behind her. "Small, frail and weak. Humanly delicate," the girl reaches out tempted to touch her by the sheer tone of the boy's voice as though she were under his spell. More so, the blue of Seras's eyes seemed to drag her in deeper.

"Deadly strong and," his right index touches the kitten's tiny ear. "Fiercely loyal. The sight of a true _Nosferatu_."

"Josie." the sound of her name being called by a male voice breaks the spell cast upon her causing her to blink and let her arm drop. Heavy footsteps tread over the wooden boards of the floor outside of the room as her name resounds a second time.

"Farewell."

The kitten meowed, the footsteps got louder and the two individuals almost collided as the prince turned and passed the child exiting the room and the elder looking teen ran up to them. Their shoulders almost brushed up against each other, Vlad's right to his left, as time seemed to slow down as they then passed each other. Long raven bangs concealed the prince's face as the same was done to his opponent by the dark grey hood he had over his head.

Seras's claws sank in deep in the fabric of Vlad's black coat, her tiny body tensing, as a sudden sense of dread washed over her while passing the mysterious stranger. A state induced by the scent of said teen passing next to them. It was like being hit by an ice cold bucket of water. The scent was overpowering and familiar and more than enough. It brought her to that night so long ago when everything began.

/He poisoned me. I remember this scent./

The sentence almost caused the prince to stop walking altogether. He paused in his step by a mere fraction of a second's worth of hesitation on his behalf like a momentarily paralysis of his leg which he eventually conquered and kept on moving down the hall. The sound of his steps seemingly louder this time around.

"His name." his words are calm and whispered for only her to hear, yet filled at the same time with much interest along with the solemn promise of _vengeance_.

/I'm not sure. I don't r…/

"Jonah."

Yet the task is done for her when the overexcited little girl steps in happy to her brother. She quickly hugs him cutting off whatever questions the latter may have had regarding unknown boy all dressed in black apparently leaving her room.

"Soon." Vlad murmurs very silently still moving, head slowly rising a fraction and to expose the darkening color of his irises peering from under his bangs; a flicker of red lost in the dark blue sea. The change of color in his irises his completely unaware off appearing in the span of a second as his eyes narrow at the statement.

"Wait." Jonah calls after him prying his sister from around his waist before turning his attention to the boy and catching him just as he was about to round the corner of the hall. The latter stops in response, partially turns his head to peer over his left shoulder and offers a subtle smirk on his lips. He almost gives in the to the temptation of telling, of revealing himself to the new Iscariot dog he knew the teen to be, of spilling his blood on the virgin snow outside in retribution for his crimes against his most precious one. Their eyes lock, but the moment is shattered when girl name rambles on about the cat she'd found. The tension was heavy between them.

Jonah's attention is thus momentarily diverted back to his little sister looking away from strange boy whose name he never got to hear. When he looks back, however, the strange boy was gone as though never there. Not even running down the hall after proved efficient for there was no trace.

And strangely, the front door of the orphanage was still closed; closed, just as he left it after coming in.

**.**

**.**

"If you were any less of a worm you'd be dog food." The prince says in distain while continuing to chuckle highly amused and leaning back into the left side of the armchair with both his arms crossing over his chest. He wore all black, pants and a turtleneck mohair sweater; only his socks were white. A few frozen flecks of snow had yet to melt from his hair form the heat of the room. They had just returned no minutes before and to their surprise, they hadn't been then only ones.

Walter too chuckles at the boy's choice of words as he was sitting on the couch beside the chair and next to him on the right in the opposite corner of the couch itself was the poor unfortunate dark brown haired apprentice who'd dared to provoke a highly dangerous vampire.

"Why are you laughing?" Nathaniel asks in indignation crossing his own arms under his chest. Couldn't these people let go of one stupid mistake he wasn't all that responsible for?

"Because the description suits you." The prince replies. "If you were man enough to walk in on a naked girl in the shower you should be able to not pie your pants when she lashes out at you for it. Not to mention hiding behind someone else's back like a damned shield."

"It wasn't like that." He protests. "Why the hell didn't you move?"

"Well excuse me for waking to War World 3 in my bedroom with an out of control vampire out of blood and a damn coward." Vlad sarcastically tells him. "Not one vampire would want your blood. Fear is good but cowardice is just pathetic and worthless."

"She's a monster. Why the hell are you defending her? Maybe _you_ shouldn't be too fond of her pretty face and see the demon for what it is. Not to mention having her lie on top of you like that."

Vlad was seconds from responding when Seras spoke first.

"How kind."

The very demon purrs against the man's left ear and his skin enough to send shivers down his spine. He jerks away as if burned almost falling over the edge of the couch.

"Christ." He breathes feeling his heart race like wild inside his chest as he peers over his left shoulder finding nothing but thin air. Seras's voice startled him, but not finding her proved even more disturbing. Then her light chuckle came forth as a mass of fine black mist appears behind the armchair the boy was sitting on with Seras emerging from it. Her long black leather coat reaches her ankles clashing with the cream color of her sweater and thigh high stockings. The white Casull was held in a holster over her right thigh secured by a black belt that covered the welt of the stocking. Her long hair flowed behind her, a few of the strands falling over her shoulders. Coming to a stop on the left side of the chair her hands curl over the price's developing shoulders tightening their grip as she leans in so that her lips almost brush the cartilage of his left ear.

"Isn't he precious?" she hoarsely whispers threatening to prick the skin of his upper arms through the plush and soft material of the sweater her wore with the tip of her nails. Her fangs extend emerging form behind her upper lip ready to take a bite and the boy subtly bares his throat out to her grinning and never looking away form the expression on the young man's face, the bandages disappearing the moment her lips brush against him." So much sweeter than the priest's."

"Now miss Victoria." Walter's tone is highly amused pretending to be reproaching and disapproving towards her obvious intentions. "It's not nice to tease."

"Just a bite." She sensually purrs bringing her lips down on the left side of his throat just under the angle of his jaw grazing his skin with the sharp tips of her fangs and then the tip of her pink tongue.

/Please./ she pleads so beautifully through the link they shared; the intensity of her desire and need for his blood dripping like honey off her words promising the pleasure he would unconditionally receive in return. She was still so hungry.

It proved quite a challenge not let his eyelids drop, to tilt his head and moan at the contact. He held up admirably. That is until her right hand released his shoulder and crossed his chest reaching for the left side of his face and the angle of his jaw touching his skin with the tips of her fingers tilting his head.

"She need not know." She murmurs referring to Integra who had yet to emerge from the kitchen. And just like that she bites down and Vlad's eyelids drop with a sharp intake of air as she doe so.

"Stop her! Nathaniel shouts turning to Walter for help. He had seen the young man in action and most definitely owed him his life. If anyone could put a stop to the vampire it was him.

"No." surprisingly, Walter declines encouraging Seras in her actions. The look in his violet eyes darkens from common sense to morbid curiosity. "Let her do it."

His words were brutally cut short by the wave of shinning blue wires encircling his body wrapping themselves around his arms securing him in place and pulling him back on the couch so that he fell back on his back. A small mesh of wires gagged him afterwards keeping him quite. "And do be quite." He sighs tightening the wires around him but not enough to actually break his clothing or his skin hurting him, just enough to emphasize his point. "We can't have a starving vampire, can we?"

His dark gaze fell on Seras, the two reaching an unspoken agreement and thus fulfilling the deal they had struck.

Her mouth opens wider and even as he speaks and his eyelids drop a little in the wake of a gentle sigh passing his lips. His pulse quickens to a steady and strong beat beneath the tip of her tongue. She then bites down a second time this time truly drawing blood and covering his mouth with her right hand to stifle his cry. His eyes shift shut and he inhales deeply tilting his head and tightening his hold on her forearm.

"This should be a lesson for you priest." Walter continues temporarily offering his attention to the one he held captive. "A bite isn't always this pleasurable. On the contrary, for however intense it may be, the bite itself can be excruciatingly painful. Remember that."

The young apprentice protests struggling against the binds holding him, attempting to break free while muttering muffled words that held no meaning under the gag. Walter kept on talking and the vampire kept on feeding moving her lips and tongue over the boy's pulse point making him sigh, coaxing the blood forth. Each beat of his heart robbed him of several more precious ml of sweet crimson.

The prince sighs loudly. _Bite harder_. He silently pleads pushing his throat against her fangs lust dripping from his tongue into her mind though his lips never move to produce a single syllable. He wanted that feeling of utter numbness to wash over him again. To offer his life into her small, slender hands and be completely and utterly at her mercy. He could die and no harm would ever come to him while held in that warm embrace.

And Seras did. Faithfully obeying her master's wishes she grinned against his skin before opening her mouth wider and biting down on his jugular anew causing his eye to roll back behind his eyelids and his legs to weaken forcing the draculina to wrap her free hand around his middle and support his weight.

"It can rip through you tearing your mind apart, shredding your soul." Walter finished his sentence as his left hand gripped the armrest feeling the wave of lust Seras was shamelessly projecting their way too lost in the taste of the prince's blood. He'd long since gotten accustomed to Alucard's more erotic nature when dealing with the vampire in his female form over a century ago. Oh yes, he knew that particular look all to well. But that didn't change the fact that a true female vampire was so much more _potent_ and _genuine_.

/It's good, isn't it?/ And so he smiles knowing that if he concentrated on the right link and mindset he would be heard. /Be careful not to drink him dry Seras./

/He won't mind./ She replies opening her eyes with one final gulp to meet his gaze. She then retracts her fangs agonizingly slow licking the spilled excess blood in a very slow and sensual manner without breaking eye contact and rejoicing in the prince's exhausted sigh and heavy breathing. He could do little more than pant into her embrace while regaining the strength in her legs. It wasn't the blood loss that affected him so.

Seras chuckles licking the puncture marks clean and feeling them close beneath the tip of her tongue. She then pulls back all the way placing her hands over his shoulders to keep him steady until he's able to do it himself. It's at this point that Nathaniel struggles embarrassed over then natural changes befalling his body in the aftermath of such unique display; movement that has him cut his clothing on the wires encasing him. He was just about to stop and regain his strength before tugging again when the kitchen door squeaked filling the room with voices. However, it didn't open all the way and the voices kept on talking.

"We won't have problems will we Seras? A deal is a deal, is it not?" Walter whispers keeping his tone of voice as low as possible. There was no point in having either Integra or Paddy hear them. And until they do eventually find out, he was merely prolonging the inevitable for a little while longer.

"No." the draculina tells him just as quietly hovering directly over apprentice's face. Her sudden appearance, the scent of fresh warm blood on her breath, propelled the young man to snap his eyes open and suck in a deep startled breath burying his back as deep into the couch as he could; a breath only made worse by the grin appearing on the vampire's face as she stared him down. He immediately stopped moving at the sight of her fangs and the very thin rivulet of blood dripping off the left one and _almost_ touching his right knee as it fell to the floor below disappearing in the dark color of the small rug in front of the couch.

"You'll be good too won't you?" she purrs locking eyes with the frightened soul before her. "_Yes_…" she continues not letting him answer and if he could have his voice would barely have been a faint and frightened whisper. She caresses his left cheek with the back of her right hand trailing her nails over it as if in silent warning. "_Very good_." Her crimson irises capture his full attention. The ruby red pools of molten liquid begin to glow robbing him of his free will and surroundings until there was nothing but cold, frightening and unyielding darkness burning a hole straight through his soul. The void sucking him in….

"What are you doing?" And when Integra spoke a moment later he was suddenly back in the room, warm and comfortable, sitting like any normal person would on the sofa beside Walter as though nothing had happened. Her hair was cut short and layered, dyed pitch black and her eyes were free of the round glasses she once wore. Her question wasn't even directed at him, but the other three inhabitants of the room. And though her tone spoke loudly of suspicion she granted them the benefit of the doubt; for now at least.

Seras was nowhere to be seen while Walter sat on the left side of the couch from her perspective playing with his wires and the boy sat in the nearby armchair leaning against its right side and armrest with both arms crossed under his head like a pillow. His eyes were closed and his left leg slowly dangled back and forth in front of the chair while the right was under him. He appeared to be sleeping as he sat there breathing slowly and evenly by the soft motion of his chest and shoulder. Nathaniel on the other hand seemed to have a rather blank expression on his face which was most peculiar by itself.

Integra came up from behind the couch placing her right hand over Walter's left shoulder lightly squeezing it. She'd left the baby sleeping in their room before descending to the kitchen preparing her bottle and somewhere behind her the elder priest was also slowly approaching them moving towards his chair.

"Just waiting." He replies looking up at her over his shoulder and placing his right hand over hers on his shoulder. "Nothing much."

"Really?" she questions elegantly raising an eyebrow at the response, seeing the tell tale sketch of a smirk that spoke of _more_. The latter smiles while turning his gaze back on the young priest watching as his eyes slowly recovered and he's unable to associate the events which had taken place.

"Yes, and our friend here has graciously agreed to help. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, I'll take th…" Nathaniel tells them in a lost and frail tone. But then, when something soft brushes his left thigh crawling out of the small space between the couch, his left side and the small pillow he was leaning on, he stopped talking all together. His eyes fell on a small white kitten carrying those same unnatural and demonic _red_ eyes…

She meowed.

"Jesus!" he screams reacting most violently in a self preservation act to the sight of those large irises looking up at him most innocently as though nothing from before had happened. His first reaction was to move, his second to crush her like a spider. In the end he did both. "For Christ's sake keep her away from me!"

Meanwhile, during the small interval of time between Integra's arrival and Seras releasing him from her embrace, the prince had comfortably basked in the comfortable armchair basking in the afterglow of the intense bite. His body was heavy and satisfied and refusing to move one muscle more. He curled his arms beneath his head cushioning it while leaning against the right side of the armchair and its armrest in a slouched position listening to the muffled sounds of those around him.

"For Christ's sake keep her away from me!" the silence was brutally shattered by Nathaniel's screaming and screeching voice and the feel of something colliding with his left side and falling into his lap. "I'll do what you want just keep that **thing** away from me." He then quickly gets up to backing up from the couch.

Vlad opens his eyes at the sudden intrusion in his personal space feeling as though a small rock had hit him, but once he straightens a little his gaze falls on the tiny white creature wiggling in his lap in an effort to turn back on her belly. Succeeding, she then shook her tiny body and matted fur and meowed softly, her eyes a beautiful sky blue color…._innocent_… oh the irony.

Nathaniel kept on talking and screaming but the prince paid him little heed and instead focused all his attention on the small white bundle. He smiles and reaches out to her with his left hand scratching her small forehead and the top of her head with his index finger to which she replies by softly purring.

"Sit back down." Walter on the other hand reaches up behind him grabbing hold of Nathaniel's left wrist and pulling him back towards the couch. "We've not finished discussing this."

"What more is there to discuss? I have already agreed to the _company_ your two vampires for the evening."

"You will be taking them into enemy hands Nathaniel." Walter's tone darkens briefly making the young man flinch as it's accompanied by the unmistakable increase in pressure upon his hand. "I presume I don't need to tell what could happen. Bloodshed is the last thing we need."

"Bloodshed?" the choice of the word took the young man by surprise. What bloodshed? All he had to do was get them to the charity event and nothing more. It's not like he was expected to babysit them.

"_You are_." And yet Walter tells him as if capable of reading his mind without fail. "As long as they're there you, and you alone, are responsible for anything and everything they do. As their master, Integra cannot go for they will recognize her. As for me, Heinkel has already and a taste of my blood. She knows I didn't die and will be expecting us."

"It's a charity event for Christ sake." Nathaniel counters gesturing with his arms once he frees his left from the angel's tight grip. "What's wrong with you people?"

"Of all the virgins you could find Walter." Integra is the first to chuckle unable to hold her laughter. "This is one is truly priceless. He's blind to the real world."

"All the better if he's captured, don't you think?" Walter smiles and the grin is filled with both amusement and mischief. He could always play the innocent card when facing his pears. "One cannot say anything, if anything is nothing to begin with."

"You've planed this, haven't you?" she intrigues raising that same elegant eyebrow in a slow and tantalizing manner while also crossing her arms over chest as she walks around the couch to stop by his side.

/_All that you want…/_ she suddenly hears his voice inside her mind as he turns his head to the right and looks up directly at her meeting her gaze. His voice carrying a dangerous tone, husky and deep…one he rarely used in her presence. But when he did indeed use it, it always sent an involuntary shutter through her body. And it was never one of fright. What's worse, it forever reminded her of his earlier words: Hellsing's only monster wasn't all that alone. There was another just as worse hiding behind those large expressive eyes and boyish smile that needed seconds to turn blood cold. His blue eyes held a most intense expression freezing her on the spot for the sake of just a few short seconds before he suddenly smiled wide and bright closing his eyes and tilting his head to the left in a most endearing manner. That he had promised earlier that day, all that she wanted and desired. He would see it done.

"_You course I have_." The smile on his lips yet lingers so bright and sweet…and oh so very _deadly_…

She can almost feel the warmth of his breath on her skin and her cheek blush without her noticing, warmth that lingers on her skin even as he stops speaking taking his words with him. /Your rule and I obey milady./ the words reach her once more casting her out of the daydream causing the blush staining her cheeks to subside with the turn of her head and a light curse towards the unexpected turn of events. Why had she agreed to it again? Liking him hadn't been planed? Hell, loving him was as unnatural as seeing her vampires' part from another and carrying his child was nothing, but a fluke and night gone wrong that should have never taken place in the first place.

Damn lust….and momentary weakness to those same god forsaken eyes of his. And that voice…no wonder he was so good at his job. A vampire hunter most often mistaken for a vampire himself given the way he conducted himself…luring his prey in with such ease….Fuck.

But even if she were truly honest with herself it was and had been so much more than simple lust. Lust more than love ever could have been in the first place and yet those blue eyes held her captive with such intensity each time and with each single glance promising the world as never before. And though she would never admit it out loud her eyes followed his movement as he stood up a moment later.

/What lovely thoughts?/ his sudden chuckles wakes her up completely and her first reaction is to punch him hard in the right shoulder while her second is to reach passed him as he's complaining about the pain and throw one of the pillow in the vampire's direction. The latter seemingly startled by the sudden appearance of a pillow crashing into his face without explanation.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself." She hisses oblivious to the look of blatant disbelief on the young boy's face as if saying what the hell was she talking about with the way his right eyebrow elegantly rose in question and his gaze then dropped to the tiny white kitten sitting atop his lap….meowing softly….innocently…

Of course, that little she-devil…

/It wasn't him…/ Walter chuckles and his thoughts reach her once more fueling her anger.

"Seras!" she shouts, but the kitten only meows innocently once again brushing her tiny muzzle with her right paw in a very cat like fashion. I didn't do anything.

"It's alright." Walter whispers leaning in over her left shoulder and brushing his lips against her cheek before trailing a soft touch to the underside of her jaw where he briefly nips at her ear lobe before she pulls away with another deeper blush staining her cheeks. "No harm done."

"No harm my ass." She curses anew eyebrows furrowed in anger all directed at him this time around. How dare he? In public no less.

/Still you enjoyed it./ he chuckles moving behind her before she a chance to retaliate to his thoughts yet again, his smirk wide and his blue eyes filled with mischief. "Seras I'm warning you." She didn't need to be hearing voices in her head, especially his, especially in that tone of voice.

/_He cares so deeply…/_ a different voice whispers gentle promise inside her mind catching her by surprise. Her shoulders momentarily tense hearing them but it's only a seconds worth and fades just as quickly. And the soft meow that follows is another silent reply that doesn't require words to be understood. Integra turns to look her over watching as the kitten settles down on her left side and then turns onto her back all the while burying her face into the fabric of Vlad's pants and the bottom hem of the very soft mohair sweater purring somewhat louder. His fingers immediately rise to trace her spine knowing exactly how much pressure to place and where to do so; knowing exactly what she wanted.

"Just waiting were you?" Integra then turns her questions to the young boy standing there in his chair just as innocently. Curse them all.

"And you, you could at least have the decency to stay dead." She tells him before taking a seat on the couch in Walter's former place, crossing her right leg over her left and crossing her arms under her chest, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly while her gaze hardens.

"Yes," he replies voice darkening just a little bit and his accent doesn't go unnoticed. she's never truly heard it before except for that one time all those years ago. "I could…" But…there is always a 'but'…

"Oh be quite. It's beneath you to preach nonsense." She immediately cuts him off not interested in hearing 'but' this time.

"It's only nonsense if you deem it so." He looks up at her from under his bangs, his stare hard and serious and _playful_, if one could call it that. Integra holds his gaze and blue stares blue down in an unspoken showdown. "Surely, there must be more to my greeting." He smiles and his grin is wide and filled with amusement and it's familiar yet strange at the same time. His head tilts to the right at the same time and he truly looks like a child. "After all, our last greeting was not that long ago Countess. Or have I become so _unwanted_?" a hint of sarcasm dripped from his tongue by the end of that last question like fine wine from a vintage bottle and the image of the simple innocent boy was shattered just as quickly as it found life.

"Had I a gun I would shoot your miserable ass." She returns with a tone to match.

"I would prefer a few droplets of blood instead." He chuckles. "For old times sake."

"Of course you would." She smiles back in return offering a smug grin of her own. "And you'll be like _this_ for how long exactly?" she gesture with her left hand towards him as Walter comes to stand by her side leaning against the left side armrest of the couch

"A while." God's he was annoying her. Integra grins, just like old times.

Silence fell between the two giants and for a good amount of time neither said a word more as they basked in the sound of Seras's gentle purring.

"Your eyes are blue." She states after a while longer having had time to study the young boy a bit longer and examine him. It wasn't a question, not at all.

"They are." He expertly replies waiting for her to continue.

"You look nothing like yourself."

"So I've been told." The prince sighs tearing his eyes from the young knight to take a more comfortable position on the living chair. He leans back against the backrest careful of his lingering wounds and pulls his left leg up while still keeping the right under him. His change in position also prompted the kitten to move and dive completely under the soft hem of the plush black mohair sweater her master was wearing. Only her head and front paws remained visible while the rest of her body was safely nestled beneath her new blanket so very warm from having been in contact with his body. Once she settled her ears lowered and starting purring anew. He was barely touching the top of her head caressing the base of her right ear with a gentle stroke and yet the sound was so loud, so utterly content and peaceful. Almost _divine…_

Integra sighs letting her head tilt backwards for a moment as she ponders her own out spoken question.

"What am I to do with you vampire?"

"What ever pleases you _my master_."

The two fall into silence once again, but it's not as long as the first one.

"She has difficulties. Her powers aren't _controlled, _are they?"

"No." he tells her without holding back. "But she will learn to control them once more."

"Vlad then." she then calls his name on impulse and his immediate response, the slightest twitch of his shoulders to her question, confirms her nagging suspicion. His blue eyes upon her held an unknown sparkle, pride for the sound of his own name.

"So you **are** him. _Again_."

"Close enough." He offers a weak smile before picking up the small kitten, removing her from the warmth of his sweater and placing her, despite her soft meow of protest, on his raised knee.

"You _really_ don't look like him."

"Of course not." His eyes never part with the kitten whose tiny tail curls around one of his fingers and front paws play with the fingers of his other hand. "I've lived, died, and have yet to die again." His right index finger caressed her cheek and whispers as though she were still human. "And become a monster."

"You were born a monster servant. All those _legends_ _**are**_ about you." She speaks up without a hint of hesitation and without being in the least affected by the bluntness of her own words.

"Perhaps." Seras was the only one who noticed the subtle change in the boy's features. And though it was a mere glimpse from the corner of one eye and nothing more, she saw the fire burning at the very bottom of the deep blue sea.

"Then how _human_ are you servant? Does your blood taste as such? Does it smell human still?" she chuckles. "Has she ravaged you yet, little human?"

"Has she?" he questions instead of answering and he does so with a subtle grin and a slight tilt of his head to the right.

"You tell me." She offers causing him to briefly chuckle. It was indeed good to be back; to be _home_.

"Oh so many times…" The words are his soul reply, the grin never fading. And if possible, it grew wider and oh so pleased with himself.

"And what is to happen now, Count?"

"Perhaps time will tell you Countess."

What indeed? There were so many ways in which that small, simple question could be answered.

.

.

To be continued….

Till next time. Bye.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 30**

To those who remember me mentioning those 22 chapters to come regarding the evolution of Seras and Vlad's relationship a couple of chapters back, they just turned into about 27-28. I know I should finish the two or so chapters I have left until I get to the start of that whole saga, but I just got a few more ideas, a few more good songs for inspiration and they all fit in so well with the rest of the plot that I couldn't leave them out. They just made it all the more interesting at least in my opinion.

I'll make sure to finish them as soon as possible and hopefully post again by the end of the month.

Enjoy. And I hope I got all the bugs out.

Chapter 30

"I'm curious little one, what deal have you made with the angel of death?" the young prince asks her while sitting on a chair in front of her. The latter was turned so that the backrest was to his chest and he comfortably rested both of his hands on top of it in a crossed position. His chin rested atop and his legs swung loosely on either side of the chair. Seras on the other hand sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him once the two had retreated to the privacy of their room away from the others.

"Would it make a difference if I didn't tell you?" She tells him letting her head drop in her right palm, the elbow resting on top of her knee. Three times now and she still couldn't get it right. The kitten came so easily, almost like breathing. It was everything else that hurt. She couldn't find the wolf form any longer. And yet she clearly felt him especially when anger got the best of her.

"The wolf came just as easily Seras, close your eyes." he softly tells her with great patience choosing to let his unanswered question slip by for the moment.

"I needed to kill." She quickly responds but then lowers her voice and her gaze as well. "And I was angry...and hungry…I…"

"You're hungry now little one." Though he contradicts her his tone is in no way scolding or annoyed with her refusal to drink. This time it was different, it wasn't a matter of choice any longer. Despite having fed of him not long ago she has yet to be thoroughly satisfied. "And I'm the last person in the world that needs saving draculina. That should never be your motivation."

"I know." She sighs closing her eyes dropping her head. Now that he mentioned, the hunger seemed to return all the more strongly.

"Today or tomorrow, you'll have to drink again."

"I'll be fine." She tells him with great conviction.

"In the twenty or so years locked in the basement I felt hunger like never before. It eats at your mind. The very though of fresh, warm crimson trickling down your throat, dripping from your chin…"

"Please don't." she pleads fisting her hands tightly.

"The walls and the door had barriers to keep me in. The entire room was designed to lock me away. I broke my hand punching though the stone to get out, my bones to rip through that door and chains again and again and as the years passed lost my voice screaming and cursing the entire Hellsing bloodline." His tone then lowers turning deadly serious. "What walls will hold you Seras? When hunger drives you mad beyond reason."

"You will hold me!" She immediately tells him raising her head, almost screaming the words in his face. "And it will be enough because I'd never…" her voice fails her, distress shining in her eyes as she tires searching for the right words.

"Never what little one?" his tone is the soothing comfort she needs to put her restlessness aside and calm the storm within her soul.

"_Hurt you_." She silently whispers raising her eyes to meet his soft gaze. His chin yet rests atop his forearms, his eyes half lidded, raven bangs and somewhat longer forelocks framing his young face so beautifully.

"I _trust_ you…" he tells her in an equally soft and gentle tone. It may have taken years, hundreds of years, pain and bloodshed, but he finally learned to trust. And trust he did, with every fiber of his being. For the fist time in a long time, he trusted those beautiful eyes staring back him whether they were crimson or blue. The only problem lay with everyone else. "But the rest won't be as accepting. We are vampires Seras, in the end."

"I won't touch them." She interrupts him before he can finish. _I promise._

"Then close your eyes." He whispers in return after than short moment of comforting silence. "And let go."

Doing as told Seras closes her eyes and relaxes her body letting the shadows rise from under her yet again. They rose surely but slowly and then…

_Meow…_

The kitten was beautiful; a white light amongst a mass of pure darkness. And yet she was too ashamed to lift her head and ears and him calling her name once it was done was like a death blow. She had failed again. The wolf still escaped her.

Her eyes were closed and her little body tense, a fact made worse by his innocent gesture of picking her up. She hisses at the feel of his hands upon her and her claws extend digging into the wooden floor beneath her thus trying to stop him. Shame made her angry and anger turned her fur black and made her grow. More shadows erupted like the flames of a violent fire and consumed her whole pushing him back and away from her till there was no trace of the small white bundle and in its place stood a massive wolf with fur as dark and bristled as the blackest night. The creature towered like a giant over the place the tiny kitten had once held. The large muzzle emerged first, jaws tight and set and a low pitched growl and deep rumble emerging from her enlarged ribcage. Searing red eyes ablaze with hellfire came out next and with them a set of two matching large paws with claws that dug and scratched at the wooden floor.

"Not good enough." Distain filled his voice and words and on queue the creature opened her mouth wide in a hellish anger filled snarl that shook the entire room like an earthquake causing both walls and wooden floorboards to screech. The creature comes forth in its entirety.

Anger was beyond beautiful.

"Now sit." He purrs in satisfaction standing but a humble child before a vicious monster. The wolf obeys and crouches down on all fours, her chest still rumbling and ears twitching. "And _change_ draculina. See what you wish to become."

The large body dissolved evaporating like steam from a boiling pot of water. Without warning…**gold**…bright and vibrant like the sun emerged like diamonds from crushed coal and the thick mass of black surrounding her. Vlad takes a step back letting the mass retreat aside before walking the distance and approaching the kneeling figure in front of him whose upper body was hunched over her knees and whose arms were tucked in between her chest and thighs. Golden hair long and curly a bit like his covered her head and back like a large silken veil all traces of silver gone from it. The body was small, that of a child's, with the sleeves of her crimson shirt now far too long for her arms and her pants even longer on her legs. The shirt itself fell over her right shoulder along with the bra strap and a soft sound passes her lips as though waking from a dream.

The prince knelt in front of his draculina sinking his hands into the cloud like mass of golden silk to find the contours of her face cup her cheek and gently raise her head.

_Now sit._

Master's words were low and the submissive part of her demon felt the utter need to comply with his demand in any way possible.

_And change draculina._

The words caressed her ears like a soft summer breeze soothing her black fur. The hurt she felt as her body changed, the bone breaking and reforming, muscles stretching, no longer mattered; nothing mattered, just his voice. And so her body shifted a second time and she pictured herself a human, felt herself become _human_ once more. Paws turned into hands and fingers, muscle mass decreased and bones refitted themselves into a much smaller and compact size.

Silence descended and a moment later the wooden floorboards gave of a light creek as two warm hands cupped her cheeks raising her face. Her eyelids flutter open and she finds tender blue eyes starring into hers with great pride once her vision clears.

"Glorious." He hotly whispers against her mouth pulling his lips form hers slowly.

7 year old Seras starred back, eyes as blue as the sky just as the day they first met at the orphanage. The sole difference was the length and curls now present in her long hair easily reaching the middle of her back instead of the short spiky haircut she bore that first time.

**.**

**.**

The low pitched growl reverberated through the entire small church shaking the walls and its very foundation. The cup of tea Integra was drinking from tipped over on the coffee table in the living room spilling the remainder of the tea onto the small plate it sat on. The knight sat with Walter and the elder priest on the couch, the latter on the living chair reading the last few chapters of his book before his sermon would start in about two hours time. The young man was just coming back with Nathaniel from the kitchen when the roar came scaring the later, making him back up into the doorframe. Immediate silence fell afterwards for a good few seconds and then the baby's cries echoed from the upper floor. All three pairs of eyes moved upward looking at the stairs except for one who kept reading his book calmly as though nothing happened.

"Did you say something?" he poses the question to Integra without turning his attention away from his book. His only gesture is to reach up with his left hand and slightly adjust the volume to his hearing aid. She doesn't answer and instead turns her head to look over at Walter in a way that spoke of a dreaded question she almost wished to she wouldn't have to ask out loud. He in turn only nods and starts walking forward towards the stairway even as Nathaniel's frightened voice spills a terrified 'What was that?' behind him.

A low pitched growl was left behind the terror inspiring howl and it reverberated of the halls of the second floor like a deeply resonating purr.

"Walter?" Integra speaks up to which he only nods a second time. "Stay here." He whispers moving forward. Yet moving up the stairs, before he reaches the small landing of the stairway, the sound of a door opening reaches his ears. Footsteps follow immediately after and the young prince emerges from his room stopping in front of the open doorway meeting Walter's gaze. The two exchange a mere glance before the boy smiles, but does not get a chance to utter much after that.

"What did you do?" Integra immediately questions raising the tone of her voice while quickly crossing the room in the span of a few short and hurried steps. The cup of tea is left forgotten and her tone is angry and accusatory; she'd barely gotten her little girl to sleep not half an hour ago.

"I have done nothing _my master_." The same mocking tone comes again. "Just _experimenting_."

"Where the hell is she?" she sighs in annoyance holding in her anger by tightly clenching her right fist as she reached the foot of the stairs. She knows who's at fault even without being told. And if he's experimenting then it's only far too clear whose hands are actually getting dirty. And just as she utters those words a black tendril crosses the hall to his left coming from the baby's room, the door closing behind her with a soft click, and touches the floor behind the raven haired boy shifting a new. Surprisingly for everyone, there is no large figure to emerge form behind the prince, but a small pale hand taking hold of the right side of his sweater over his hip. The hand is clad in a caramel colored mohair sweater with sleeves far longer than the arm it covered making it almost hide her entire hand leaving only the lower half of her fingers in plain sight. And as the small figure partially stepped into view from behind the boy, they could see the sweater almost reach her knees covering the dark leggings underneath. Her boots shrunk to size, but other than that hey remained the same. The sweater fell of her shoulders revealing the black turtleneck blouse underneath. Long golden hair, no longer a mixed match of silver and yellow, in loose curls fell over her right shoulder and down her back reaching her hips. Her irises were a vibrant crimson, her skin a light pale shade to somewhat hide the immortal look she bore. She looked just like any _human_ child.

"Oh my God." Integra whispers at the sight of the little girl, eyes wide in wonder as she brings her right hand in front of her mouth.

"God's not as fun." The prince chuckles lightly with a bright and cunning smile looking down at the child and patting her head affectionately.

Flashback

_"Glorious." He hotly whispers against her mouth slowly pulling his lips form hers._

_7 year old Seras starred back, eyes as blue as the sky just as the day they first met at the orphanage. The sole difference was the length and curls now present in her long hair easily reaching the middle of her back instead of the short spiky haircut she bore that first time._

_"You need different clothes little one." Vlad tells her with a smile watching as the clothing covering her small body disappears and new pieces take their place in the blink of an eye. Both can hear the infant crying by now and with a slight nod the prince gives her quick permission to calm her down. It wouldn't take her long to get the child to sleep once more; her mind was easily influenced at this age._

_He's left standing alone still kneeling on the floor as her body disappears in a black mist tending to child. Her mother would have a fit otherwise._

Flashback end

His eyes are alit with amusement and the gesture he makes is simple. At the same time Seras steps forward placing her right hand on the wooden railing while using her left to grab hold of his sweater once more, replacing the right. She smiles in return slightly tilting her head to the left and the sheer innocent manner of her gesture prompts the angel into a hard laughing fit he can no longer control. And he kept on laughing even as he turned his back to the two children and walked passing Integra and heading back to the couch. There he took a seat placing his arms on the backrest and crossing his legs. The smile was still on his lips, his laugh a deep chuckle. Oh but it was hilarious.

"Best one yet." He says while gazing across the room towards the two children coming down the stairs. "The _girl_ fighting alongside me was amusing, but this is priceless."

"Walter!" Integra calls his name finally coming out of the shock induced by that unnaturally freaky sight, but the latter speaks again interrupting her.

"And is this your grand idea for entering into Iscariot's hands? Because if so," he pauses once the two reach the table in front of the couch passing Integra on their way down. Seras still held onto the boy's sweater, yet had her right hand brought up to her lips. The long sleeves covered both her hands, her hair was falling over her shoulder and her bangs fell over her eyes hiding them beautifully. She was like porcelain doll, a perfect china doll. Walter finally stops laughing and brings his arms down resting them on his knees while leaning forward. "It might just work." He reaches out with his right hand gesturing to Integra to come closer after which he silently tells her with a simple nod of the head to take a seat on the couch beside him. "Come here if only for a moment." He whispers telling her with just those words not to be afraid or worried about their daughter while at the same time letting her know he would not be stopping her from checking on the small infant. "As irresponsible as the vampire is, his childe is not." His head then turns back on Seras. "Am I not right little one?" the amusement is still there in the subtle curl of his lips and the light chuckle that somehow finds a way to slip passed his lips. He gazes upon the small little girl whose gaze did not meet his but innocently looked up at her _master_. Amusing indeed. She looked incredibly innocent, beautiful. A doll no mortal would dare resist or think of harming, yet at the same time the perfect bait to lure prey to its death.

"What have you done you stupid vampire?" the knight sighs pinching the bridge of her nose with her right hand to control her raging anger.

"Just," he briefly pauses. "_Experimenting_ my master. As I said, nothing more." He emphasizes that one word with great satisfaction. And his foreign Romanian accent made it all the more real.

"Heinkel knows her face. "Walter speaks up voicing one of her possible concerns.

"She's orphaned." Vlad replies offering the same reply he himself had once received from the old man regarding Seras's past decades ago.

"Yes, and you _killed_ her." Walter adds reminding him of the rest of said conversation.

"I did. She doesn't exist. Then why worry?"

"Because a wolf doesn't forget his favorite lamb."

"Neither does a monster." Vlad says with a smirk that puts a definite end to the discussion. Neither does a monster. And what better monster could there be than an innocent little girl?

**.**

**.**

With a little time before the 6 o'clock mass started all the residents of the small chapel made their way in the adjacent chapel; all except for the two young children who instead of staying warm by the fire were walking through the sown outside in the small garden behind the chapel. Though their coats and scarves kept them warm flakes of snow adorned their hair. They walked side by side though Seras's manner of walking was far more light and happy as she watched her own two feet sink into the freshly layer of snow all the way down to her ankles. She was smiling and laughing just like any real child her age.

"Seras…" the prince whispers, his hands in his pockets, while stopping behind her. He stops yet still looks at her smiling face halfway covered under the brown scarf she was wearing. Her cheeks tainted pink by the cold and the white pearls in her hair. His face, unlike hers wasn't covered, and the crimson scarf hung low circling the base of his throat.

He offers her a small smile before speaking further. "Are you still Seras little one?" he watches carefully as the smile drops from her face and her expressions becomes serious as she ponders her words over. She's several steps ahead of him and instead of immediately replying she runs back to his side stopping in front of him. She looks up meeting his gaze noticing the small hint of concern within his blue eyes. This little girl in front of him was acting so utterly different from what he knew. In the hour after her change she had moved from one adult to another _playing_ with them as any child would. The most captivated of them all being the old priest who went on to tell her stories to which she laughed so freely, so joyfully, it made her seem almost surreal in his eyes. Had his draculina always been like this? Even in the first stages of her new life as a vampire she'd acted in her own childish way, but this was so very different. He'd never heard her laugh that way before.

"I can change…" Seras whispers lowering her gaze once the silence between them turn uncomfortable. "If this isn't good enough I can…"

"No." his tone is firm putting an end to all doubts she might have. At the same time he reaches out with his right hand placing it on top of her head caressing her hair softly. He offers her a smile lightly tilting his head to the left. _Never_.

"You are just different."

"I'm supposed to act like a child."

"You aren't _acting_ Seras." The smile still graces his lips and his eyes no longer held that faraway look. And it was indeed a sight to see.

"I don't understand." She whispers, confusion blossoming in her crimson orbs.

"This _is_ you." He tells her in return while kneeling in front of her on his right knee to reach her level as she was only tall enough to reach the middle of his chest otherwise. The gloves come of easy and his hands cup either side of her small face basking in the softness of her skin. "Before your world ended in blood. Before innocence was robbed."

The flash of recognition in her crimson eyes did not go unnoticed and her gaze immediately drops once more finding the snow and their feet far more interesting. Joy and laughter died with her mother and father. There was nothing to love at the orphanage. And no one to make her laugh. Giggles turned to silence and violence. There were no friends, just children making fun and hurting her. Sadness and loneliness.

"_Maybe_…" It's all she can voice out feeling his thumbs trace her cheek bones. Truth was she couldn't recall ever having smiled, laughed like that. It was something children do and she just needed to be one for a while.

"You were a beautiful child little one." The prince gently raises her head leaning in so that their foreheads touch. He smiles and nothing more is needed. The silence between them comforting once more. His eyes looked upon her with such pride. Peace overflowing.

Thus Seras smiles in return, dazzling and warm. Her eyelids drop, eyes closing, and her smile turns even brighter, lighter…and free. Truly beautiful.

"I'm here…" Vlad whispers brushing his lips against the upper right corner of her mouth, nuzzling his nose against hers.

"Can I stay like this a little longer?" she softly asks placing herself in his hand completely; her forehead resting against his accepting his touch. Could they stay in sweet state of blissful innocent just a little bit longer? Could they stay like that before Iscariot took it all away.

"_We_ _can_." His hands continue to trace her face, fingers softly moving over her cheeks. The air grew colder around them and the first signs of snow fell from the sky around them. White flakes finding both gold and raven.

"But your eyes are the wrong color little one." He tells her moments later with one last lingering kiss over the corner of her mouth. "As beautiful as they are, you need to make them blue or Heinkel will know."

"Alright." Biting her lower lip she takes in a deep breath and for a moment nothing seems to happen until bright sky blue orbs stare him down from behind her small eyelashes.

"Excellent." The prince whispers most pleased brushing her left cheek with the back of his right hand.

Laughing Seras pulls away from his touch turning around and running through the snow trying to catch they many snowflakes descending from the heavens. The prince was left standing there watching her go with a smile on his face. She wouldn't be a child for much longer, why not let her enjoy it? After all there wasn't much els…

His train of though is suddenly broken by the cold snowball hitting his right temple in a direct shot sending pieces of snow flying everywhere. Laughter and giggles follow in its path. She wouldn't dare.

"Why you…" the second snowball, he didn't see that one coming either, as it hit him square in the chest splattering snow all over his black coat. Seras ran giggling immediately after and he followed quickly scooping up his own snowball. "You dare treat your prince this way. Get back here draculina."

He couldn't remember laughing this hard in his life. Snow went flying through the air as they ran after another in the snow. He really couldn't remember.

And it was the most beautiful think he would ever remember.

**.**

**.**

The door to the confession did not close fully after the last parishioner left the confessional once mass was over. It was nothing new and the small squeak the door subsequently made went unnoticed as the priest was gathering his things preparing himself to leave. Then, just as he was about to get up from his seat, he noticed the silhouette of the young boy behind the divider screen from the corner of his right eye. His raven hair was somewhat damp and even held a few more frozen flakes of snow which had not yet melted between the raven black strands.

"The night has taken your _flock_ father." He whispers as his lips knowingly curl into an upward smirk. His tone sounds mocking and sarcastic, yet neither element upsets the priest nor discourages him from picking up the light layer of amusement hidden beneath.

"You're late." Paddy replies in kind, tone soft and understanding like that of a grandfather. "Mass was an hour ago." The prince smiles hearing those words. "I prefer a different from of worship, one less damaging to my _immortal_ soul." And though he emphasizes that one word Paddy fails to see its true meaning. All human souls were immortal and therefore the implication of a vampire's immortal existence was left buried a little bit longer. The priest had yet to fully understand he wasn't talking to an actual _human_ boy.

"Yet you wear a cross around your neck. And you came here," he pauses. "To confess."

"I wouldn't go so far." The prince chuckles louder crossing his arms above his chest.

"Then what have you come for my boy?"

"An itch." He replies turning his head to look directly at the priest through the separating grate. "Why so interested in _my_ draculina?"

"She has a lot to say." He replies thinking back to his conversation with the young creature. "Especially about you. About choosing you to be more precise."

"Why assume she chose me?"

_Why think I chose him?_

The same words rang true just as Seras had asked of him earlier. But why would such a vampire _choose_ to let itself be _chosen_ by a mere child?

"She said the same." He whispers slowly starting to understand the bigger picture.

"You're looking at the book all wrong father." The prince tells him and for the briefest of seconds Paddy can swear he heard the tone of his voice change becoming deeper and far more mature for a mere 13 year old boy. Yet it happened so fast it could have easily been a trick of the mind. "The content is less worth than the cover this time. And you are a man greatly fond of books."

"What are you proposing?"

"That you ask what you really want to ask me father."

"What is the closest thing God you have?"

"That's not your real question father." Vlad smirks. "That is merely an _itch_ you have."

"One I would be grateful if you answered."

"Why?"

"You and the vampire," he pauses to reform his words. "There is something about you I…"

"Yes?"

"What is she to you?" Paddy changes tactics, yet with little success.

"You're avoiding again father." The prince contradicts him and the light smirk upon his lips fades.

"You're just a child." Paddy whispers partially giving voice to his main concern. "And she will live forever." He adds Seras's own words into the mix attempting to see if they would be recognized as well.

"Which answer would you prefer?"

"What is she?"

"To you not much. Just another vampire, one you shouldn't cross despite her more _gentle_ nature." Vlad offers his reply answering only a part of his question. "She is not as you think. Beneath that girlish exterior lies a fascinating and complicated creature."

"You made her. You're a _vampire_." Of all the things he could have said, this was just part of it. For the Hellsing vampire, the one he knew of, wasn't…

"You've said that before. In less words, but the meaning is the same." The prince scolds him for using that phrase again as he chuckles in both amusement and delight at hearing those words. So he finally figured it out.

"It wasn't my decision priest. It was hers." He replies without fail inadvertently giving away a piece of information he shouldn't have parted with. There wasn't therefore much sense it hiding the rest as well. "Always, in the end." He ads with a smirk forming on his lips. The priest had somehow tricked him. "Clever father, but I would not think so much about it."

"You're Hellsing's vampire." His pause isn't long, but meaningful nonetheless. "_Alucard_."

"I am..." he ponders his answer for a mere moment before he finally admitting the truth in a low tone with pride in his words. "_Myself_."

"And what would that be?"

The prince turns his head to fully look at the man beside him through the checkered wooden grate. He lowers his tone and when he speaks his eyes narrow taking on a serious look that even through the perforated wall separating them dared to prove him wrong. "Hellsing's **pet** **vampire** is neither a child nor a woman." The words sent a chill down the priest's spine. "Yet you serve them in your own way. So why ask a _monster_ who he is when you already know of me?"

"If you are real then you cannot be a mere child. You cannot be…_human_." Paddy whispers after an initial moment of silence in which he processed the boy's sentence.

"I never openly said I was one." Vlad smiles. "Not to you."

"I do not understand."

"Was it the blood that upset you? That she gave me a _drink_?" Vlad question, the grin reappearing on his face. "Or that she's sharing my bed? Our room which is your room…" His words cause the elder priest to swallow his next words and instead truly focus on the meaning this new line of questioning held. "What have you thought goes on in that bed, "He briefly pauses, a second only, to increase the tension. "_Father_?"

"What have you done?" the urgency of his words and the sharp intake of breath as he to turn his head to fully look at the child beside him betray everything he never said out loud.

"Nothing one _usually_ doesn't do in a bed." The boy replies with amusement softly chuckling and tilting his head back a little. "You have no idea how truly _warm_ she is. how very _innocent_."

"Why is she a child now?"

"Because I made her."

"A human child." Paddy adds making himself better understood. Though there were several other issues he wasn't quite sure he should voice out in the wake of his last reply regarding the girl's warmth. so for the moment, he decided to stay silent on the subject.

"Because innocence is preferred." The prince purrs in satisfaction. "Such large, innocent eyes that have never know the cruelty of the world or its cold and unforgiving touch that can never be washed away. And the lions will devour her whole make no mistake. It is how the world tends to work whether in your time or mine."

"You would let her fall?"

"She's been falling since the day I _killed_ her." Such pride lingered in that one word it took Paddy by surprise. "And what a splendid night it was. You should have been there to taste," he chuckles then corrects himself. "To _relish_ in such pure virgin blood. It was _almost_ a shame to take that flower for myself one night."

"Why be a child yourself?" Paddy asks changing the subject again to one less intimate. His actions only cause the young prince to chuckle one more before his tone eventually turns nostalgic while freely offering more information about his past to this one stranger, this one priest. A confession centuries overdue. "It is…how I died long ago. I died in this form the first time. _In a cold and wet dungeon_." He merely whispers lowering both his tone and his voice. "You know nothing of the world father nor the cruelty of the thing you call God. I've told you this before. The world loves seeding its own destruction and God will forever stand watch changing nothing."

"And what of the one that made you?"

"I made myself father." Once again the tone he uses turns dark and dangerous. "Taking blood and killing them all long before I turned undead. I am and forever will be my own master…and my own monster."

"You serve humans that imprisoned you." Paddy corrects him oblivious to the anger now surfacing within the boy's blue eyes and the clenching of his fists as he fights to keep his ager and fury at bay. "That is the fate of the Hellsing vampire."

"Not everything you read in an old book is true. But yes, imprisonment would be the right word. Then again you've never been forced to _comply_ with runes burning every inch of your skin alive if you dared oppose. Still," he pauses and the anger fades replaced by a gratifying smirk. "Servitude has its benefits. I've killed more from under their nose than I ever did by avoiding their eyes. I neither have to kill to eat nor eat to kill, it is merely a game. And I excel in it."

"Then you are…"

"Myself." He chuckles offering the same reply he had sometime during the beginning of their conversation.

"Dracula cannot be human." Paddy finally whispers after taking a long, deep calming breath.

"Why?" Vlad challenges back. "Because you say so? Or because your God says so?"

"God has nothing to do with this my boy."

"No, he hasn't." the prince agrees tilting his head to the left gazing upon the grate and the priest's face once more. "How can he? When he doesn't even answer men's prayers. When he's blind to the world around him?"

"He has answered yours." He softly tells reclaiming the calm in his tone. He watching with just a tiny hint of satisfaction as the grin on the boy's face fades and the look in his eyes betrays his full attention to his words. "Or is that _child_ not the closest thing to Him that you have?"

Seconds pass then, a full moment later, the prince bursts into laughter that turns into a deep chuckle accompanied by his famous grin once again.

"Such assumptions father. Is that what you think? What you _really_ think?"

"No." Paddy tells him and his own tone is far too confident to be wrong. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is indeed right. "It's what I see."

"Then you see too much."

"I see life as it is."

"And what is that Father? Was is life to you?"

Paddy smiles, finally it was his turn to chuckle if only lightly, his shoulders gently trembling with the effort. "You keep calling me that…" he whispers in a soft tone.

"If you prefer priest or catholic dog, it is the same to me. You're just a man in an assumed position of power granted by fools who believe in a higher power to compensate for their own inadequacies."

"Once you were the same, the human before Dracula."

"Yes, but then God's will was for us to fight and he spared no salvation to those who would beg for it. To truly pray one must fight. And if we pray enough God shall rain down upon us." He chuckles. "Such nonsense. But the world was different then than it is now father. God was on a pedestal he's now fallen from. And the thoughts of men are no longer as blind."

"Still God has delivered something good in your hands."

"No Father, he hasn't. Blood and death delivered her. Blood and death forged a child long before my darkness touched her. Stop looking at her like a young woman. She's as much demon as I am."

"Perhaps. But what I've seen so far holds her more human than demon. I see what she says without speaking a word or offering a glance: _I'm here. I'll always be here_." The simplest of answers. "And it's always directed at you."

Silence descends between them afterwards and neither breaks it for a good few minutes.

"Giving up is what kills people father. Those who refuse to give up are entitled their time to trample upon the weak."

"And when the day comes and she finally gives up on you what will you do?"

"Bathe the world in blood." Vlad nonchalantly replies as though it were the most normal thing in the entire world. "Only a human may defeat a monster." He briefly pauses closing his eyes. "Seras is my human father, whether you believe it or not. She exist for the sole reason of…._**fighting m**_**e.**"

"What do you mean?"

"She exists for the sole reason of _**saving me**_. I live because of what she'll do to save me." His blue eyes become distant whit the thought that his words were already so very redundant. For what _hadn't_ she done so far to save him? And what wouldn't she do in the future yet to come? "She chose the devil in spite of seeing the devil take her life. And in close to 6 centuries no other human has ever shown me such kindness. For when you fall as deep as I have you tend to find yourself in a world you can no longer recognize. It's like being, _falling_, in a room where no one will ever see or hear you. Where the light won't find you or touch you because you aren't worthy. _I have found light father_." His head turns to face the priest through the grid and for the first since meeting the boy his irises bleed blood red under his very gaze growing each and every spec of blue. The look he casts id murderous and speaks of haunting promise to come should anything ever, _**ever**_, get in his way; worse, should anything ever, _**ever**_, happen to his draculina. "She **is** all a _human_ should be and yet she's proved to be everything a _vampire_ should be. You ask what I would do?" he laughs and the sound is evil and dark making his expression and the look in his crimson eyes all the more deadly. "I would do what I came to be feared for. I will show the world the kind of monster I can be."

Paddy can do no more than simple look and hear his speak so utterly captivated by the sheer intensity of his words.

"I once swore the world would never forget who I am." He grins and, to the priest's surprise, his canines lengthened just as they would as fangs. "I will ensure they don't forget her either."

And the silence falling between them was all consuming. The pounding of Paddy's heart was loud and rapid and his eyes wide in disbelief. All this coming for what he though was just a boy when the sun fell the night before and then rose hours later that very morning.

And just as the priest prepared himself to say something in reply the door on Vlad's side suddenly opens wide revealing a scuff of golden hair and cream colored long sleeves that wrap themselves around the boy's waist in a fraction of a second squeezing hard. Seras's embrace is warm and soothing as she so easily fits between his knees and against chest while hugging him as he sat there momentarily taken aback by her sudden act. Her long golden curls fall over her shoulders and the black fabric of his pants and her arms curl around his waist fisting the soft, black mohair sweater above his lower back; her left cheek warm against his chest feeling for his heartbeat. The soft and soothing blanket he's always searched for…and his tense shoulders immediately relax, his features returning to normal.

Yet the moment is fleeting as she quickly pulls back just as his fingers touch her shoulders in an attempt to embrace her back. She gently pulls at his sweater making him move and stand up form the chair and succeeds with a soft childish giggle and not much effort. There were neither words nor lingering glances just the warmth of her touch as she easily pulled on his left hand dragging him behind her still giggling wanting to play just a little bit longer. And when the door closed behind them those very giggles lingered in their absence a moment or tow longer.

_I could bathe the world in blood. _

"I doubt it." Paddy softly whispers giving voice to the words he didn't get to tell the boy. There was much that little girl could do, so much more than she even knew she could. And in that very though also lie the greatest treat and danger. He might doubt it hoping for the best, but at the same…he couldn't be more sure of the intensity and truth those very words had brought to life.

I _could_ bathe the world in blood….

**And I will**….

Should you _take_ her from me.

**.**

**.**

To be continued…


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 31**

"What _exactly_ are you saying Jonah?" two figures stood watch in the darkness beside a window on the second floor of the building the charity even was taking place in. the taller of the two wore a dark grey coat and a hood that matched the one the younger boy always seemed to wear. And although her face was merely partially obscured by its shadow, the rest was hidden away by layers of bandages with shredded edges covering the lower half of her face as well as the bridge of her nose. Dark green eyes stared him down from behind a pair of round glasses.

"I am not sure. You ordered me to keep an eye out for anything potentially suspicious. I did. But there was something so strange about that encounter…that boy. I just," he pauses looking down trying to find his words. "The boy just vanished when I looked again. And my sister referred to the cat as a draculina asking what it meant. He had called her such and…."

With his gaze cast down Jonah didn't see it. But the second the word _draculina_ was mentioned and passed his lips Heinkel's body tensed and her left eye twitched.

"What did you say?" she suddenly grabs him by the collar of his hoodie forcing his head back up. "That word. Say that word again!"

"_Draculina_?" the teen repeats in a more cautious tone not quite picking up on the meaning that one word had for Heinkel.

"That fucking vampire whore!" she shouts releasing him. Her eyes sparkle with rage one second before she starts laughing, the sound of her voice dark and malevolent. "So that's where you went." She whispers to herself turning from the boy to look outside the window. The gears in her mind already turning as to what to do next.

"Jonah!"

"Yes mam?" he quickly replies straightening his clothing.

"This _cat,_ where did she find it?"

"In the park south-east of here. It's about an hour's distance on foot."

"Find me a map of this damned city. I want to know exactly where everything is and where she's hiding. Each and every possible dark whole my rat has used."

"Josie found her in broad daylight. In the middle of the day and she seemed perfectly fine."

"She would. She's that vampire's pet after all. Don't expect such an ancient bloodline to be weak Jonah. After all, she didn't die after you poisoned her unlike the rest." She sketches a smirk. "Oh no, this one won't die so easily. Your sister, where is she?" her head then turns back to face him.

"She's under my care. I moved her form the orphanage and we're now staying in an apartment I have…"

"She's useless to me then." She cuts him of again with a dismissal wave of her hand. "Victoria isn't stupid enough to go to visit that child again any time soon. So what I want to know is which part of the park it was."

"Somewhere by the lake. I don't know for sure."

"I see." Heinkel turns around starting to pace alongside the window, crossing her arms over her chest. "And this boy. What did he look like?"

"About 12 or 13 with dark raven hair about shoulder long."

"And his eyes? Were they red?"

"They were blue." He adds seeing as her eyebrows furrow in displeasure though she remained silent on the subject and continued pacing, a silent sign for him to go on. "He wore all black and Josie told me the cat was very small, unnaturally so, with blue eye as well. The boy said strange things when addressing her as draculina."

"Like what?" the small rise in her tone briefly made the young man flinch as though she were scolding him for not mentioning it sooner.

"She couldn't remember. She could recall it happening, but nothing specific per say."

"That's not what I want to hear Jonah."

"Yes I know, but she's only ten. She doesn't understand. She told me the cat wouldn't come to her no matter what, but moved towards the boy when calledCneajna."

"_Cnejna_?" that word made no sense whatsoever and it told neither of them anything for the time being.

"_Cneajna_." Jonah pronounces it correctly. "I looked it up. Apparently, that was the name of a princess back in the 15th century. She was Vlad Dracula's mother. Princess _Cneajna_ of Moldavia."

"Was it now?" Heinkel suddenly smiles and her lips form a devious smirk beneath her bandages. Her shoulders begin to move as she chuckles most delighted. "How very interesting."

"There is more." He tells her catching her attention once more. "I already look over a map before coming here. I thought you might ask sooner or later. There are only residential buildings around the park including three parishes. And one of them is rumored to have belonged to Abraham Van Hellsing. But I didn't want to say anything until I had all the information."

"Van Hellsing?"

"Yes. And I also heard rumors amongst my brothers about this other father, father Julian from the congregation, that he's been seeing angels of late."

"What do I care about that old fart sees? He's useless."

"The angel apparently had black wings, dark hair and blue eyes. And he saw him in the same church." Jonah pauses prolonging the inevitable by a few seconds more. "You had me rip the wings of a similar angel days ago."

"Walter!" she hisses as the pieces of the puzzle finally fall into place. "Do you know where this church is?"

"I do."

"And the priest left in charge of the church?"

"I can find out."

With those words the look in Heinkel's green eyes as she turns back to the window and looks outside at all the people still coming to the charity event, the freshly fallen snow stained in their footsteps.

"Do so. This event is for children after all. And perhaps, the boy and his cat will join us. After all," she peeks at him form the corner of her right eye. "You were the one to poison her. So if there is at least one person they'll definitely come for, it will be you."

"What will you have me do?"

"Nothing, for now." She gazes back out the window. "We will wait and see if the boy and his draculina come to us."

"And if they don't?"

"They will." She lowers the tone of her voice once more, a tone that basked in nothing short of confidence as she crossed her arms over her chest one more. "I have no doubt they'll come. Sooner or later. Vengeance is a fickle thing."

"And when they do? What then? Do you wish the church investigated?"

"No need. Going directly after would be pointless and much too suspicious. They aren't the only enemy we have to consider."

"You mean McCoy." Jonah comes to stand by her side turning his attention of the world beyond the plate of glass.

"He's not all that seems. Our alliance is temporary and I would like to keep it so as would I all our secrets. If we got on a rampage on one of our own, he will find it too suspicious to overlook. I do not want him knowing Hellsing's secrets, whichever they may be, before us."

"I understand."

"Make sure that you do. That man keeps seeking you out more and more."

"My loyalty is to you."

"It better."

Just then, she spots something peculiar approaching the building: a young man leading two children, one of which a boy fitting Jonah's description all too well. And beside him, well it wasn't a cat, but a little girl with yellow hair holding his hand.

"Are they…" the young man asks leaning in to have a better look. A lot of people had gathered, children as well, yet it seemed that Heinkel had taken a particular interest in these to. Her shoulders suddenly tensed and her hands gripped at her arms fisting her own clothes. He couldn't quite make out her face, but something aching to a growl passed her lips.

"Not a cat, but a filthy little mouse." She whispers suddenly smirking. Oh, she could tell. She could who that was from a mile away. And whether she was truly right or not, the chance was far too good to pass. "Go and mingle Jonah. And find out what you can, _discreetly_. Find me my vampire."

"Understood." The latter nods turning around leaving her alone.

"Excellent."

As for Heinkel, she continued to watch from the window still smirking that gratified smirk. Hopefully, her mouse would prove herself a challenge. And if not, she now knew where and what to search for.

"A church belonging to Abraham Van Hellsing, was it?" she whispers pondering the meaning and implication that piece of information held. Perhaps a search was in order. Discreetly of course and made by someone neither the Victoria or Walter knew of. That piece of property might just offer her a break in this relentless game of 'cat and mouse'.

And should that prove useful, why not other properties as well. Especially the one the whole world knew to have belonged to the vampire himself once upon a time.

**.**

**.**

"I don't like it here." Seras whispers while pressing the left side of her face against the back of Vlad's soft sweater over his lower back. "Too many thoughts. My head hurts."

"We can leave." The raven haired boy softly tells her while still searching the room for any signs of either Heinkel or the young teen from earlier. Two hours at least had passed without any sort of unusual interactions to say the least.

"I can hear them, everyone. But not _them_. She's not here."

"You sensed her when we came in."

"I can't any more." Seras moves her head back from the warmth of his black sweater and takes another look around. "But I don't know when I lost her. I'm sorry."

"No matter." He says bringing his left hand up to ruffle her hair with a smile. "We did what we came here to do. Come." Taking her by the hand he beings to lead her away back towards the stairs and the lower floor.

"I don't understand."

"Not all battles are won in blood little one." His grip on her small hand tightens as he leads her away from the crowd. "We appeared, that's all that matters for now."

"Then why did Walter make such a big deal out coming here?"

"Because he had to." The prince stops. "The boy will talk soon enough. It's only a matter of time. We aren't looking for a leas draculina, we're just bait."

"How do you know that? He _was_ terrified of me."

"I've seen that look on many faces in the past. I know it very well. He will talk, when the time comes."

"We're going home then?"

"In a manner of speaking little one. There is something else I want you to see first."

"What?"

"You'll see."

"Oh honey look. She's so adorable." A woman suddenly speaks up dragging her husband by the hand in their direction. All the money gathered by the end of the night was to go to different orphanages spread out all over the city as well as help introduce some of the children to prospective parents. The woman in her late 30is with honey brown hair tied in a low ponytail and hazel brown eyes quickly came up to the two children utterly mesmerized by the golden haired little girl Seras was posing as. "She's like a little doll. Look at her."

"Yes dear, but I wish you wouldn't drag me around like that every time." The man, a bit older than his wife, had short, dark raven hair with streaks of grey along his temples, a moustache and a pair of rectangular shaped glasses over his brown eyes. He gave of an exasperated sigh at being once again dragged across the room by his rather energetic young wife who suddenly found her duty to inspect all of the children gathered.

"She's so sweet. What's your name little one?" her voice is filled with excitement and wonder as her eyes expectantly look over Seras's face with the utmost adoration. Seras, on the other hand, stays perfectly still and silent holding her master's hand tighter as he slowly brings her closer to his body. "Are you here with anyone?" her right hand reaches out to her wanting to brush some of those lovely loose strands of hair from her bangs out of her face in a comforting gesture, but is stopped by a firm hand grabbing her wrist.

"I don't remember allowing you to touch her." The prince's tone of voice is low and would have been dangerous and close to threatening in any other circumstances, but he kept his cool despite make his point known. He doesn't hurt the woman and quickly releases her wrist, but takes a step forward putting himself between her and his draculina. "Don't touch her."

"I'm sorry. I got a little carried away." The woman smiles brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "Are you her brother? I've seen you two together for a bit now."

"What's it to you?"

"Dear this isn't the best way to go about this. You can't just rush them with such questions."

"Nonsense." The woman smiles waving her hand in front of her face as though it were nothing. "We're merely talking. They're so sweet. As I was saying I…"

"I need to go." Seras pulls at his hand making her voice sound as small as possible thus easily playing the woman in front of them who's immediately fascinated by her innocent and utterly adorable mannerism. The downcast eyes, the biting of her bottom lip so utterly adorably, the shy look on her face while bringing her other hand up to her mouth with her fingers practically swallowed up by the cream colored sleeve that seemed just a tad to big for her. "Yes, yes of course how silly of me to keep you." She smiles again to which the prince actually raises an eyebrow in response. She was down right creepy to say the least. "I'll be here when you get back. So sweet."

"Now darling…." The man placed his hands on her upper arms trying to talk some sense into his wife even as the prince moves quick to pull Seras along and out of their reach. The sound of their exchange following the children with each step they took as the woman kept going on how lovely Seras was and soon they could adopt her.

"You wanted people to like me." Seras teased with smile hidden behind her left sleeve as it covered her mouth. "To be _sweet_ enough."

"Don't say it like_ that._" he sighs rolling his eyes. "It was disturbing enough the first time." Turning around a corner they continued on along the hallway towards the foyer to pick up their clothes when Seras suddenly stops over half way in.

"What's wro…" Vlad turns around while asking onto to stop once he notices the figure stepping forward to block the path they had just come from. Both the posture and the hood covering his head were familiar things as he stood there without moving.

"_Victoria…_" the unmistakable sound of Heinkel's distorted voice as she called her name succeeded in sending a chill down Seras's spine making her grip his hand a tad harder. Heinkel stepped forward coming around from behind them on the other end of the hall where the exit would have been. "Long time no see..." the sound of her voice coming from behind both heavy bandages covering her face as well as scars due to the scar tissue left in the wake of her wounds rang loud before she abruptly paused as if on purpose. "_Vampire_." Deeply amused chuckling followed as she stepped forward and into the light that brought forth her features. "You've kept me waiting too long. Yet here you stand. Can't say I wasn't hoping for it." Each step she took brought her closer, her boots heavy as she paced and the edge of her long grey coat swirling around her ankles. "Too much of a pest to just drop dead and wither away." She finally comes to a stop no less than half a foot away.

"You would know." Seras hisses looking from under her bangs with narrowed eyes while subtly tightening her grip on her master's hand.

"I'll find you, eventually." Heinkel replies narrowing her green eyes. "I may not be able to touch you now, but I'll eventually find you."

"You can try." The prince replies this time with an all too familiar smirk on his lips.

"Oh I will." She chuckles.

"Get out of the way." Vlad demands narrowing his eyes taking an aggressive stance in front priest.

"When I desire your filthy advice vampire, I'll ask for it."

"Here's your chance Judas priest." he chuckles. "If not, the fuck out of my way."

"The only reason you're not being dismembered is because I can't have a charity based of bloodshed."

"Such a shame."

"Don't test my vampire. Or I might just shoot you with some poison like did your precious draculina." Heinkel's tone turns threatening, eyes narrowing as she takes pleasure in the change on Seras's face she could not hide in time. "Better still, why not just do it again?" she gestures with her hand and a second figure joins them coming to stand beside her. "After all, he did such a fantastic job of it last time."

Seras's grip on his hand turns bruising as a sense of utter dread suddenly and involuntarily floods his mind coming from her. She was afraid.

"Seems you're not the only one who can leave a mark on that precious child."

"We can't all be so competent, can we?" Vlad sneers in reply. "Too bad you lack the balls to do it yourself. At least Anderson was as good as his word."  
>"Just you wait and see <em>Alucard<em>. You'll regret those words one day."

"You're breaking my heart."

"I'll be crushing it." The two exchange a heated rage filled look for what seemed like forever before Heinkel eventually turns away with a sly grin plastered over her bandage covered face. "Jonah, let's go. The air has gotten to stale around here."

"Coming." The teen replies casting one final look of his own over the two vampires from under the grey hoodie he wore.

The prince stands firm watching the two of them walk further and further away until they move around the corner disappearing completely.

"We're leaving now draculina. Make a portal."  
>"Yes master." Seras replies meekly and silently hiding her face in the small of his back.<p>

**.**

**.**

"Where are we?" Seras questions as both her and her master step out of the black portal and touch ground on an abandoned field, the soil frozen over and heavily covered by subsequent layers of snow no man had cleared. The ruins of a large building lay in before them watching over the abandon field. "Home…away from home." The prince whispers, his breath visible in the cold winter air, as he begins to walk forward towards the runes of the once grand and majestic house. A fragment of the ceiling remained while the rest was gone much like the majority of the walls; these were just segments missing stone and adequate shape. The remnants of windows still remained as well, broken glass still embedded in their frames. All the broken pieces, stone, wood…what once had been a home lie buried somewhere beneath the layers of frozen dirt and snow.

"I'm sorry." She whispers grabbing hold of his wrist with her small right hand stopping him after a few more steps. The mere sight of that boy had paralyzed her, his presence alone as if having the utmost power over her. "I couldn't…"

"He had it with him, didn't he?" Vlad interrupts her looking over his left shoulder to her downcast face. "The blood."

"_Yes_." A small and meek 'yes' that could somehow end up justifying her fear. It didn't. She shouldn't have been afraid.

"Your fear of him will harm you more than him Seras. Don't be afraid."

"I don't want that blood inside me again." She shyly looks up to meet his gaze, blue eyes large and wide and innocent peering from under her golden bangs. He had to admit she was exquisite doll.

"When there is nothing left to destroy draculina," he pulls his hand free of her grip and cups her face instead. "Nothing else can harm you. Don't be afraid." His eyes are kind and his thumb lazily traces circles over her left cheekbone in a caring manner.

Seras nods offering him a most brilliant smile while pressing her cheek into his warm and welcoming palm, her left hand coming up to rest over his wrist and keep his hand a moment longer if possible. "Come, I'll show you my home. Carfax…" he softly adds at the end before taking her by the hand and leading her on. Their footprints leave deep marks on the freshly fallen snow as they cross the field heading towards the old building.

"It's…a house…" Seras says in return scanning the broken walls, the pieces left behind, as they got closer and closer. "A church?"

"Neither." he softly replies changing direction as to head around the building instead of through what had one been the front door. "Once long ago it was founded as a church, but the owner died leaving it to his family. They lost it, sold, given, taken, the years were not kind. Then one day it was bought by an elderly man who came out of the shadows and he took the foundation and walls and redrafted them making it a house. It took all his money and the last of his years and sanity to make it..._perfect_…Then, when it was done he walked into the sunlight from the very roof of his home and never came back. The house was left to a boy with one eye red and one eye green that could never grow old, but no one knew he even existed. The house was sold and bought a few times over considering everyone who tried to own it mysteriously died. And the boy, always silent and cold never speaking unless it was to the shadows, stood and watched as people came and went but never stayed too afraid of the darkness surrounding it. So year after year the child stayed alone and year after year he would grow in strength and loose his mind. You've met him before." He pauses. "When Heinkel pierced your heart." He tightens his grip on her hand prompting her to remember. "Precious little vampire." The words causing Seras to briefly stop and remember.

Flashback

_"Hello precious little vampire." Laughter filled the halls as a hand suddenly grabs hold of her throat and crushes her back against the neared wall denting it. "Traitorous blood."_

_Seras's body went limp without warning as her eyes locked onto those of the male vampire standing leaning into her face; his hood still up with strands of his hair dripping down his forehead. Her crimson pupils could not help but widen in fear as the ghost like feel of his breath touched her skin and lips and her irises reflected the madness overflowing from his._

Flashback end

"Our paths crossed and met when I sent Renfield to find others like us in the city. I felt the boy from the second I stepped foot in London. He was interesting, I wanted him found. Madness such as his was gained through his _unnatural_ blood. Marcel was not made vampire little one, he was born vampire."

Flashback

_The vampire's laughter, more like a deep chuckle, filled the hallway once more as he stepped back still grinning and still looking her over. "Very…__**strange**__…."_

_"__**Interesting**__….yes I can see now…" his voice takes on an unnaturally low whisper before his sentences finally come to an end and his head suddenly jerks upward pushing the rim of the hood back just a little revealing a bit more of the bridge of his nose and pale skin. _

Flashback end

"What could he see?" she whispers remembering. Passing room after room they stopped outside once more where a whole section of the house was missing. The remnants of the floor where all that remained and they too were deeply hidden.

"I did not ask."

Just then the snow beneath their feet turned black with one tendril after another snaking their way across it. The white blanket parted revealing the broken stone foundation. One by one the stones were removed revealing a hidden passageway underneath and a stairway leading down into the darkness below.

"But you are free to do so when the time comes."

The stairs were chipped, some just as broken as the floor and the rest of the structure. And they seemed never ending.

"You found him?"

"No."

_Flashback_

_A large metal door screeched upon opening casting light into the otherwise dark room. Steel metal bars greeted the grey haired man once he steeped into the room and behind them a young boy with short pitch black hair and dual colored eyes, the right one emerald green and the left red as blood. His flesh was red and burned alongside the right side of his face: around his eye and_ the temple, the upper half of _his cheekbone and ear and the entire right side of his throat. The burns were just an hour or so old and yet they still hadn't healed. A fact in itself quite interesting since the blood in his veins held traces of vampiric abilities. So why not heal?_

_"You will speak one way or another." He leans in closer to the bars knowing the boy could not move due to the heavy chains holding his arms and legs bound to the wall at the back of the cell. "And if not, I can make those burns of you're a lot more painful. You don't seem to heal normally, so take that into consideration the next time you disobey."_

_The dual colored eyes narrow growling in response while violently yanking on the changes that bound him. _

_"Get used to this prison boy. You'll be staying here for a long time."_

_Flashback end_

"It was Swewart actually, the elder. And he kept his _fascinating_ toy locked away and starved trying to _fix_ what was never broken. And such tampering leaves deep marks as my own scares do upon my back. The boy's blood had _interesting_ side effects on his patients and in time the child grew to love the madness he could bring. And the fool of a man never saw it coming, never knew he was being manipulated."

Reaching the end of the stairs the door at the top opens on its own with a partial creek as the old hinges finally get used after such a long time. The ruins were nothing but abandoned walls at first, the remnants of rooms coming after.

"The child found me."

Flashback

_The screams had peaked his curiosity, but it was the scent of blood that ultimately leads him towards a dark and abandoned alley. The first few droplets of crimson weren't that easy to spot, but the closer he got the thicker and heavier the scent became. The first thing he came across was a severed hand broken from the elbow down, the rest of the body quickly following half a meter away: more broken pieces to litter the dark alley. And at the very end the tall raven haired man came across a young man feeding of a woman, her neck already broken preventing her from fleeing though the life had yet to fully leave her eyes. _

_"Boy." Dark crimson eyes fall upon twin colored irises as the young man, in his early teens, removes his fangs from his prey and turns around to look at the stranger who had called him out._

_His first instinct was to growl at the stranger and defend himself and his prey, but as soon as he gets a better look at the intimidating figure standing before all manner of zeal leave him, fear and caution taking its place. This wasn't a normal man standing before him, he could feel his power and he could see the darkness move around him even if no trace it was visible. _

_"Is this the boy you wanted master? The Halfling?" another voice spoke up as a second man came from around the corner to stand by the side of tall, raven haired man._

_"Apparently so."_

_As the former steps forward to get a better look the young man immediately cowers back growling once more. He would not be locked in a filthy prison again. _

_"Bring him along Renfield." The prince orders with a smirk on his face noticing the defiant look in the young teen's eyes. It was a good look; he would do nicely with some guidance._

_"Yes master." _

Flashback end

"Not that he came quietly mind you. He broke Renfield first and tired to fight me, but he wasn't strong enough. It took him days to listen and a lot of blood to satisfy his hunger until he was calm enough to actually hear what I was saying. Eventually, I gave him to Lucy's to care for. She had an immediate _calming_ effect on him if you will. For what I know he stayed with her a while before moving on. After that we lost touch for a long time. He more or less wandered ominously through the world on his own for years killing and turning. But I never truly asked nor did I care to know."

"Why did you want come here?"

"Because I need someone to look after you for a while."

Seras stops completely hearing him say that. "What?" he couldn't be seriously considering….

"I need him to watch over your sleep. He owes me a lot more than one simple favor."

"No." her tone is firm and its only then that he notices she's no longer by his side and turns to the left to see her three steps behind him.

"Seras."

"Why should he watch over me?" there a certain urgency to her words that quickly made it clear she had understood he was planning something she wasn't going to like.

"Because I want to sleep." His gaze drops to the snow covered ground, fists clenching. "And if I go to sleep you won't leave my side."

"Why should I?"

"I want you to do something for me." His smile is soft and kind as he reaches out to her with his left hand silently beckoning her to join him once more. "I will explain everything inside."

"I won't like it, will I?"

"_No_." Somehow, his honest answer frightened her more than the lie he could have used.

.

.

To be continued….


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 32**

Hey there, my new chapter's up and I finally got to finish the saga of Seras returning to Alucard's past. It is 35 chapters long starting from next week when I upload the first one. It will focuse on the growing relationship between Seras and Alucard, well Vlad in this case. That being said, enjoy.

Chapter 32

_"I won't like it, will I?"_

_"No." Somehow, his honest answer frightened her more than the lie he could have used._

_**.**_

**.**

"I don't like this." Seras crosses her arms under her chest while staring at the dark brown coffin like box in front of her, the lid open and the silken crimson interior inviting. She had changed back into her original attire and form, her boots making nose as she circled the box once.

"I asked him to bring this here for a reason, this reason little one." Though the majority of the former residence lay in ruins, the lower basement level was still very much intact. The room was barren save for the coffin box and a candle post baring two lit candles to shed some light. "I gave Lucy the instructions when she was tending to my wounds and she took care of everything for me."

Just then the door to the room squeaked and a figure emerged stepping into the light. The hood he wore offered a mere glimpse of the upper part of his face and the tale tail sign of raven hair as a few strands of his bags peeked from under it. The line of his jaw was strong and he bore no facial hair to hide his features; the shadow cast by his hood fell low on his face.

Seras immediately tensed reaching out to grab hold of the boy's right shoulder and pull him closer towards her where he would be safe.

"It's ok." He softly whispers placing his right hand atop hers on his shoulder.

"Not really." She tells him taking one step forward as to stand between her master and the new vampire. Her fingers twitch against his shoulder fighting the notion to just cross the room and bury her fist into his face. He wasn't necessarily implicated in her unpleasant encounter with Heinkel that night, but he had played a part in distracting and it had been more than enough.

"She's angry." Marcel whispers and its only seconds before he's punched and his back crashes into the far wall of the room.

"Don't you fuck with me!" Seras shouts in anger, the ground under her feet cracking as her powers come to life.

"Don't." the prince shouts in return but she only focused on the grinning vampire in front of her.

"_There you are precious little vampire_." He chuckles baring his fangs at her while standing up unharmed from the harsh blow which had left a deep dent into the wall. "Long time no see. Are you just as _interesting_?"

Seras growls at him threateningly ready to pounce had it not been for the slender arm wrapping itself around her middle.

"Seras don't." his grip on her middle is strong enough to hold her in place, yet gentle enough as not to cause her harm. His tone was pleading and his right hand fisted her sweater over her left hip. "It's alright."

"Fine." She sighs straightening her back and calming down a little.

"Guess that's a 'yes'." The vampire continues to chuckle dusting his clothes and pushing the hood off his face. He looked young, maybe one or two years her senior by human standards with short layered raven hair and dual colored irises.

"Stop baiting her Marcel." Vlad tells him narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not the one who started it. You should control your pet."

"**I am no ones fucking pet!"** she hisses and the calm is shattered once more. The ground beneath her feet cracked tenfold and the walls actually shook from the force of her outburst.

"Says the _tiny_ kitten with wide blue eyes." Marcel continues to bait her crooking his head to the left at a rather unnatural angle. "Meow, meow." His laugh is hard and somewhat out of control and it only makes her angry.

"You little…."

"Ah,ah,ah." He raises his right hand moving his index finger from one side to another in the same scolding manner one uses when a child is not obedient. And still he chuckled. "Where are you manners? Such a _ .kitten_."

Seras growls and the dual sound of her voice echoes loudly. But she stands her ground unwilling to break the arm that holds her in place. Her own right hand holds onto his wrist for dear life, fingers twitching against his soft skin.

"That's enough."

"Why? I'm just getting…."

"**Enough!**" the prince shouts and the smirk finally leaves the vampire's face. "Enough."

"God, you always have to kill my fun." Marcel replies crossing his arms and pouting like a spoil child denied his toy. "And you wonder why no one likes you. Never likes you."

"Not unless you want me to put you in your place again." Vlad threatens and Seras actually sees the vampire's shoulders tense in reply, even if it barely lasted a fraction of a second.

"Oh please, great master." Yet still he mocks offering a mock bow of his head before throwing his head back in another fit of laughter. "Do try."

It's not the boy's wrath that he feels and neither is it his punch that sends him flying back into the same wall this time breaking it entirely.

"Seras." The prince sighs immediately after turning from the sight of the gaping whole in the wall, but two slender hands cup either side of his face and warm lips press against his forehead in a brief touch before she's gone from his sight and the sound of breaking rock and the other vampire' s mad laughter find him again.

Apparently, his idea of the two vampires meeting wasn't about to go down as smoothly as he thought. His sigh was loud one more as he sat down beside his coffin to the sound of more rock breaking. It would be a while.

**.**

**.**

"And you call me mad." Marcel chuckles loudly sitting atop a recently formed black table. His clothes were tattered in places and dusty, some blood stains atop his sleeves and hoodie. His face was somewhat bloody from a broken nose he was in the process of putting back together as his eyes were intently focused on the pair standing beside the coffin. Seras's clothes were stainless and pristine, like nothing had happened while his were a down right mess until he started fixing them as well. "Then again, you did have a half starved vampire kick my ass."

"I'm not half starved." Seras hisses under her breath, her arms still crossed under her chest in a defying manner.

"I shame I can see so well." The vampire lowers his tone of voice significantly and with his head so that his bangs partially obstruct the narrowing of his eyes. His smirk takes on a smug like quality. "The precious little vampire is starving; I can see it all to well. It takes a starving vampire to know another and I've walked that path many times over."

"Go fuck yourself." Seras hisses crossing her arms over her chest in anger. Anger so palpable the prince wasn't quite sure he should take the trouble to step in again.

"Oh but fucking alone is oh so boring." Marcel disappears only to reaper in front of her in the span of a mere second. "Care to join me?"

"I would were you not such a wee, wimpy _little_ thing." She mocks him back with a somewhat arrogant look in her crimson eyes.

"Better me than what you've already…"

"Say one more word I'll see both your blood upon the walls." The prince threatens moving around the closed rectangular shaped wooden box whose lid he easily pushes to the side revealing the black interior and more precisely, a dark grey sheet covering something apparently large resting within the box itself.

"Again," Marcel vanishes this time reappearing next to the prince instead. "You're free to try." His laughter is wild and infections as he tilts his head back and then fades away altogether, his laughter alone echoing in the wake of his presence.

"Why was I afraid of him again?" She asks moving closer to the box on the other side of the room.

"Because his powered exceeded your own."

"Not any more."

"Careful draculina. You of all should know better than to underestimate a vampire's capabilities. There is both method and logic to his madness, and one he has you trapped there is no going back. He's a far more dangerous creature than you can imagine."

"He's part human."

"Yes." Vlad turns around to look at her. "And neither part controls him. He's a wild animal trapped in the middle. You don't want his claws upon you draculina. Or your own good, a blood debt can only go so far. And you are the only I have a right to control. You are my blood he is not. He is _free_ to do as he pleases."

"I'm strong."

"And half starved." he finishes for her speaking on despite the upset look she was showing. "However displeasing it may be to say, you are half starved and sleep depraved. What power you have is a mere survival instinct your body's desperately struggling to control to keep you alive. You will fall at one point of another."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean my actions will once again force you onto the brink of death." he pulls away the grey sheet covering the interior of the box to reveal the black mahogany coffin resting within. _His coffin._

"I need you to do something for me and you truly will not like it."

"I don't…"

"You have to push the stake through my heart this time. Push it to the point of killing me without offering me a drop of your blood." The words leave Seras speechless to stare at him in utter confusion. "I have to use you like a pawn and control the strings as you move or else your presence will contaminate my existence."

And when he looks at her, he can see how much those words actually hurt. "You…"

"You need to go back inside my mind just like before."

"No." she refuses taking a step back away from him and the coffin.

"You have to. I can't be human any longer. I can feel it dying around me as we speak. There's no other way. After I drink this blood…"

"That's selfish, _again_."

"I know."

"You enjoy tormenting me. Why? Have I not suffered enough?"

"Dr…."

"I love you, does that mean nothing to you?" she shouts backing away by one more step. "Does nothing I do matter whatsoever? I thought…"

"That's not true." he quickly reply stepping forward to shorten the distance between them, but Seras purposely takes one more step backwards as soon as he does so. So the prince stops advancing. "Don't put words in my mouth Seras."

"What else is there then _master_?" she quickly turns around baring her back to him while emphasizing that one word she always spoke in such high regard, a word that had fallen as greatly as he had in her eyes in that moment there. "You want…there is _**you**_ and _**that**_ and _**this**_. More and more until I cannot understand any longer. You're doing it on purpose."

"Dr…"

"**I don't want to!**" She shouts effectively silencing him while quickly turning around to face the wall as her powers flare around her scratching at the stone floor beneath her feet. Her irises flashes red and she bares her fangs to the point of forcing an involuntary shudder to pass through the young boy, making him take a step back in genuine fear. It's only after that happens that she immediately recovers, regret shining in her eyes towards what she'd done.

"I'm sorry." She's quick to turn back around whimpering a soft and silent _'I'm sorry_.' The whole situation was far beyond her power and understanding and for a moment she completely forgot it was beyond his hands as well.

"I can't _live_ like this draculina. Please." The prince softly whispers and the strain within his voice and words are more than evident. "In a shell meant to be broken. I know what I'm asking, what I'm doing to you, but I _can't_…"

"You can't change back."

"_I can."_ He hesitantly takes a step forward and when she makes no further move to stop him he extends his right hand forward careful in taking hold of the black left sleeve of her coat offering the tiniest pull. "There is _that_ way. If you do for me what I forced you to do for yourself in my memories." The words sound harsh and cruel and he genuinely fears her pulling away form him entirely after this. "They just won't be my _memories_, but my _blood_ instead. It…will be real. More than real draculina. That's what's in this coffin and the bottle inside it. Before Hellsing got his hands on me I had him hide a bottle for me."

"I don't want to go inside your mind. Not again." She interrupts him not yet pulling away.

"If I could..." he whispers tightening his grip on her sleeve just a tad more. _I would. If I could alone I would._

"You're so selfish."

"I know."

"Then why ask?" her face was so broken it thrust the dagger deeper into his chest.

And as soon as she turns to face him fully the saddened and disappointed look in her eyes grew tenfold. Was it really not enough?

"There isn't anyone else I can ask. Seras please." He trades the sleeve of her coat for her actual hand entwining their fingers together. "Please.

"I could die."

"I know.

"Everything will be real, too real." Repeat his own statement forcing more guilt upon his already struggling shoulders.

"Yes." And the knife went deeper and deeper.

"I'm half starved and dying!" she shouts pulling her hand free of his grasp with a bit more force than intended. "You are so selfish!" her voice echoes all around them like the sharp edge of a knife cutting through his heart without mercy. Why wasn't she good enough? Why wasn't anything she'd already done for him enough? Why must there always to be more? More? More? Why couldn't she be enough? Just her?

"_You wont' even_ _know me_." She whispers heartbroken convening one of the main reasons for her rightly justified anger. "**You **_**won't know**_** me**." Her arms wrap themselves around her in the only form of comfort she knew would not hurt her or betray her.

"I know." The prince admits not bothering to reach for her hand again. He lowers his head in rightly justified shame. "But I might remember you. Remember events from last time. Maybe from now."

"Then what?" she speaks up chastising him in a tone dripping with sarcasms. "I'll just come out and say 'I'm the little girl you hid beneath the stairs? The wolf who followed you and killed for you? The one you fucked!"

"**Yes**!" he shouts back forcing her to meet his gaze. "If it keeps you alive then yes. **Yes**. Whatever it takes draculina."

Yet Seras can only laugh at the sheer irony of his words despite her eyes being horribly close to tears. He didn't know what it would take, not one bit. And still he was…

"_You won't know me." _She says it again in an even lowered tone and an utterly defeated look upon her beautiful face. "There won't be a _you_. And there won't be a _me_." She pauses for what seemed to be a long time, the silence between more damaging than the screams from mere seconds ago. "Just a _creature_ and a _boy_. You're more likely to want to kill me rather than befriend me pr talk to me. You won't _see_ me."

"Then help me see. Whatever it takes. Please."

"No." Seras shakes her head while taking yet another step back. Away from him and his words and his plea and his blasted coffin. His fucking lie.

"Seras please."

**"It won't be you!" **she shouts the words from the pit of her lungs straight in his face. "It won't. Whatever I do, it won't be you. Whatever influence I bring, it won't be you."

"It doesn't need to be _me_." The prince takes one step forward while Seras stays put in place. "I don't want to be just me. These won't just be my memories. Whatever you change will stay changed." He breaths releasing a heavy sigh, eyelids dropping tiredly. "_Forever_." He adds knowing this was the breaking point. Here and now. And everything will either go down hill from there or perhaps, just perhaps, stay afloat for a moment or too longer before breaking completely.

"You won't be you."

"I don't it want to be!" he tells her gripping his head with both hands so tired of repeating that blasted phrase. In the end, his voice broke mimicking hers. "I'm sick of being me. I'm sick of being referred to as me. 'Me' holds _nothing_, just darkness and pain. You changed that once. Have you any idea how much it means to me that you s…"

"No master." Seras still refuses interrupting him only to have him shout once again inspire of the crackling in his voice.

"You already changed me!" the depth of his voice lowers reverberating off the surrounding wall while his fingers dig in deeper into his raven hair on either side of his temples. "You already changed the filth my entire existence fell into. There is nothing I want to keep of myself. _Nothing_! I want…." He breaks off letting his hands drop lifeless to his sides. "I want…" he laughs realizing he didn't even know what he wanted. Freedom, life, a moment of peace…? What did he even want? Truly want?

"Can't I just…." Feel, live, experience? Anything other than the path he's already walked on.

His shoulder fall in utter defeat along with every bit of the will to fight her left in him. Whatever she changed, whatever she altered…nothing could ever come close to feeling and being as bleak and miserable as the turn his life had already taken 600 years ago to this day. What possible horrible outcome could there be that he's not already seen with his own eyes or felt upon his own flesh. Hell can't be worse than hell, can it? He;; can't be anymore worse than the moment he's now experiencing losing his precious draculina.

"_I'll get them to see_." Seras's words bring him out of the momentarily self induces trance urging his eyes to blink and his head to lift to meet her gaze. "I promised." Both her hands clench into tight fists while speaking lowering the tone of her voice. "But it still won't be you and it won't be like last time. People will hunt me down. And fear me and reject me."

"Seras…" it truly hurt to hold her gaze.

"You will be you." She takes another step back further increasing the distance between them. "600 year back into the dark ages. And all you'll see will be a monster. Creature. Just like everyone else. You'll fear me and hate and hunt me down if I come too close."

"Don't say that."

"It's true." she forces a smile to pass her lips that only succeeded in pushnig the knife further into his heart. "You won't remember _who_ I want. And it won't matter _what_ I am"

"I don't wish to hurt you draculina."

"No," she agrees with him shaking her head as crimson tears fall from her eyes. Even in utter agony she was breathtakingly beautiful. "But you relish in it."

"Seras…"

"Loving you is a curse." The crimson trails down her cheeks like the whip used to over his back and drips from her chin as her whole body vanishes into black mist seconds later leaving her words to echo in the shallow and empty room equally matching the pit he just finished digging in his heart.

"_I know._"

No one knew that better than him. No one regretted more in life than him.

His small and fragile paradise had just gone up in flames.

**.**

**.**

"Have I mentioned despising the uneventful blood debt I own?" Marcel paces around the room for the umpteenth time once having returned a few hours later. And again and again he flicks the shiny red apple he was currently playing with in the air only to catch it before it hits the ground, one step at a time.

"Repeatedly." The prince replies in a more than bored and annoyed tone gulping down one more glass of blood wine before moving to refill his glass one last time; the bottle now empty. Blood-wine the other vampire had kept hidden away all those years ago after their first meeting in London.

"Well one is boring and hardly sufficient. Then again several is far m…."

"Can't you be quite?" the prince's Adam's apple bobs with yet another drink that covers his mind with an even thicker blanked of dizziness and racks his body in another dull wave of silent pain like tiny needles piercing his flesh all at once. He'd nearly forgotten the taste and power his own vampiric blood had and how utterly potent it was. Deadly so. And it was working fast.

"I could." Marcel grins widely. "Then again, you can hardly order me around as it is. I'm my own creature by your own account if I might ad."

"Wonderful." He says it full of sarcasm while picking up the bottle from atop his closed coffin. And in one quick move he flings it across the room missing the vampire by just so much. A shame.

"Temper, temper." The vampire mocks chuckling. "No wonder you precious little vampire bailed on you. Such bad manners for an old man like you. Keep it up and she'll leave, oh that's right…"

"One more word…."

"She already left." He claps his hand together in a manner twice as mocking while placing the apple atop his head. "Such a shame. She scurried away never to return." he the turns back around to face the prince. "This is why you should just lie. It's so much easier and less complicated. Far less complicated."

"So help I'll rip your tongue out the first chance I get."

"Well I wouldn't." he interrupts the prince once more returning to playing with his apple like a kid with a new found toy eager and exited. "It will just grow back, where's the fu in that."

"Then I'll make sure to pick a part that doesn't grow back." Vlad hisses breaking the glass he held in his right hand spilling the remainder of the blood he should have drunk and cutting his hand deeply into the leftover shards.

"Suit yourself. But I'd much rather prefer a nice little morsel to a dirty old man like you. Who knows where you've been? And if you're as bad in bed as you are at keeping that sweet little morsel of yours then it's no wonder y…"

"**Do not speak again!**" the sheer anger he felt pushed his voice to change completely giving it a dark and dangerous depth, the tone changing and becoming dual, as both the man and the monster awoke to push the innocence of the boy out of it completely. At the same time, his irises flashed red and crimson spilled from the corner of his eyes and nose trickling down the sides of his face and chin. Violent cramps seized his body forcing his to grip the edge of the box with both hands, a gesture that only pushed the remaining shards within his flesh deeper into his palm.

"Too bad, so sad." Marcel chuckles. "Half-breed or not, I at least can control myself unlike you oh great master." He begins to say back not yet screaming but raising the tone of his voice just enough to further grind on the prince's already suffering mind like a nail over a chalkboard. In one second he's by the boy's side gripping his hair and pulling his head back to whisper in this left ear. "To bad, so sad. The precious little vampire isn't; here to help you." Oh but was it ever fun tormenting the elder vampire. He'd never had such fun with him before. "Poor dilute little draculina finally fed up with your bullshit." He chuckles and releases the boy's head to take a step back. "The pawn broke her strings taking away your eager little puppet. For shame." And as he spoke provoking the prince further, his coffin began to react. Tiny crimson lines like the intricate spreading of veins appeared over the ebony black surface, spreading wider and wider across the entire surface while the words once written atop the lid bled back to life. "_Such. ."_ He bites back the imminent laughter threatening to pass his lips.

"Be quite." A small and slender hand rams into his chest putting a permanent end to the situation, the hand either mistakenly or purposely missing his heart by just so much. Her voice is flat and emotionless and she doesn't immediately pull her arm out of his torso once it went straight through.

"How lovely." Marcel mocks literally taking the task out of her hands by stepping forward freeing himself of her limb, the wound in his chest instantly healing over though his clothing remained unaffected.

"Fuck off." Seras tells him moving passed him without another glance or sign of acknowledgement.

"Don't provoke me little vampire. You may not enjoy it."

"I'll make sure to enjoy it," she pauses just long enough to stop and look over her right shoulder before continuing forward. "Half-breed."

"Oh is that how you want to _play_? Very well then." he grins wide as both his eyes take on a much darker shade of red bordering on pitch black. "I would love to play my little pet. Let's see how well I can fuck you up."

"A shame then, I've already had far better." Seras doesn't stop and continued to ignore both his threat and warning.

Marcel chuckles finding the entire situation highly amusing and challenging as well. With the vampire momentarily out of the picture he had free reign of questioning the little creature before him.

"I saw you leave, yet here you are. _You stay_." He merely tells her knowing full well he needn't say more.

"Do I?" she replies utterly dethatched in her tone of voice without yet looking at him.

"You are very interesting. I have noticed that." He turns around until he's directly in front of her face looking straight into her eyes. "Tell me, do you recall out meeting?"

"If I say 'yes' will you leave me be?"

"No." he grins tilting his head to the right, showing off the tips of his fangs. "I am _curious_ be nature."

"Then fight against it." She tells him passing him by in an attempt to end the conversation sooner and return to her master. Unfortunately, Marcel takes hold of her right forearm before she can accomplish the task stopping her in her tracks.

"And she tells me you _resent_. Which is so much better."

Seras closes her eyes sighing loudly clenching her teeth together. "Why do you care?" she finally says allowing him to keep her in place.

"Because you **care**. You care, yet are angry about it. But even so you still hold him above you." He pauses for a moment. "When so few do…when no one would…"

"My life isn't yours to analyze."

"Perhaps," He agrees momentarily fading into shadows to reappear in front of her. "But I really want to know whether or not you lied about it." His twin colored irises return to normal meeting her crimson orbs once more as he leans his head forward towering by a few cm above her.

"Why?" Seras faintly asks narrowing her eyes in contemplation.

"I'm curious by nature." He grins despite the monotony of repeating himself.

"_I stay with my master._" Her answer is simple and to the point and the firmness and conviction of her tone left no room for doubt. In spite of everything, she was loyal to the death.

"A vampire stops being ones master after drinking their blood. And with your level of power it's impossible for you not to have partaken in it. He has been your master once. Once, not anymore."

"He will always be my master. If he can be selfish then so can I."

"You can." He agrees with her. "But are you?"

"You tell me. You're then one who thinks I'm lying."

"Tell me why?" he demands with far more determination than at first, both interest and desire to know exactly why deeply etched into his words and expression.

However, the draculina tells him nothing merely offering him a sly smile without divulging anything.

"Get the fuck out." She jerks her arm free of his touch and walks away keeping her head high.

The vampire can't help but laugh with the greatest satisfaction. Yet for once, he does as told without question. For now.

"_You came back_." The prince softly whispers momentarily free of the cramps raging a mock through his whole body; his hand still bleeding from the shards embedded into his palm.

"I'm _loyal_ that way." Seras replies coming to a stop in front of him next to the box and his coffin. He's not really certain of either the sarcasm or the mockery in her tone while emphasizing the word 'loyal' and therefore remains quite on the subject deciding it best not to provoke her further. She did come back after all.

_You are._

So all he does is offer a small and hopeful smile briefly lowering his head in both acknowledgement and gratitude. His heart just a tiny bit lighter.

"You're dying." Her left hand reaches out to wipe off some of the blood from his right cheek with the back of her fingers. "This blood is yours."

"I had forgotten the taste of it."

"You'll fade out of existence, won't you?"

"Yes." There wasn't any reason left to deny it. "Soon enough."

"Why even be worth it?" Words harsh yet rightfully justified nonetheless.

"I can't answer that." He meets her gaze with a sad, yet grateful expression. "Only you can." His tone significantly drops to that of a silent whisper lost in the wind.

"I thought Walter burned your coffin."

"So did I." he places his right hand atop the lid pushing it to the side partially revealing the crimson interior. "I told him to, but it seems that the angel of death had other plans in mind."

"So did you."

"I know draculina." he sighs feeling another smaller wave of cramps assault his weakening body. Blood still leaked from the corners of his eyes impairing his sight. "As I said, hurting you is nothing I'm proud of." The crate once holding the coffin lay broken to pieces in the other side of the room in a neatly gathered pile.

"There's something in your blood. It smells _different_."

"My blood is my own again. From when I first stepped foot on this accursed English soil." He smiles attempting to lighten the situation, but Seras's expression remains just as neutral and stern killing his attempt at humor. "It is my blood without Hellsing's interference."

"You _kept_ it?" still, curiosity gave way to some of the anger prompting her to ask.

"Yes."

"What for?"

"The truth?" he asks while pausing just enough to see her offer a slight nod, however small. "For sport. My blood tends to do strange things to the mind, you remember that. It used to be an interesting pastime…driving people and vampires a little mad."

"Really?" raise an eyebrow at that to which the prince smiles once again with a bit more strength.

"A lot mad, you're right. I was bored and sadistic."

"Clearly."

"Not helping childe. As I said, for sport."

"And then?" she ask further picking up on the words he had not said out loud.

"Then you." The prince replies pulling out the large shard of glass from his palm and clenching his fist to help stop the bleeding. Not that it did much good to begin with. "Not you specifically, but any fledgling I would have shirred during my stay in London. An experiment, if you will. Of course Hellsing happened and whatever childe I shirred was forced upon by an even more sadistic individual than I. At least when it came to my kind." Pure and unrefined blood, unbound to the Hellsing name, to either drive the poor creature mad or destroy them upon enslavement. An excellent idea when one though about it disregarding all form of consequence. A very, very interesting experiment.

"Did you ever…."

"Only one." He answers finishing the sentence for her. "As cruel as it sounds draculina, I was curious. And you…"

"I what?"

"You weren't normal from the moment I bit you." He replies taking that one step forward bringing them closer together. "You drank, yet refused a second later. You were so horribly weak, yet immensely strong from the start. It peeked my interest as I've told you many times over. So I gave you a little, just a taste, one night while you were sleeping after another mission of you starving yourself."

"And I drank it all, didn't I?"

"Yes." Grin very pleased wit himself regardless of how bad it looked. "Down to the very last drop. And I kept waiting for you to die or scream. To do something, anything, but you never did. You just continued to sleep and two nights later, you woke up the same vampire screaming again when you saw me sitting next to you on the bed. Nothing changed. You were still…"

"Innocent?"

"You."

"You're a bastard master."

"I never proclaimed to be a saint draculina." He places his bleeding hand atop the lid pushing it open all the way. "Though I do play a very good part as one. Looking and acting as innocent as I need to be, as innocent as your actions portray me to be." Close eyes take a deep breath. "You never should have forgotten that lesson Seras. I lie far better than I'll ever speak the truth."

He barely has the time to finish his sentence when Seras grabs hi, by the shoulders and spins him around to sink her fangs deep into his throat on the left side taking gulp after gulp of his blood till she feels his body start to go limp in her arms and against her. He doe not move accepting the punishment.

/I hate you./ her words whispers in his mind adding one more deserved nail to his cross.

"Please do." With every fiber of your being draculina.

The prince grinds his teeth a bit harder as the bite is far less gentler than what he was used to in the past offering mostly pain and only a tiny bit of comfort whenever the tip of her tongue traces the flesh in between. When done she roughly pulls away ripping her fangs from his flesh in an anything but gentle manner.

"You bastard!" she shouts loud and clear, yet her arms quickly wrap themselves around his shoulders embracing him. "You're forcing my hand."

"You _can_ leave draculina." He says it in a matching tone despite the blood loss. "Now more than ever."

"_**I can't!"**_ her arms hold him tighter crushing him to her chest.

"Yes you can." He contradicts her looking at her in such a way it made it incredible difficult not to sink her nails into his shoulders with how tightly she held him. "I'm not you keeper Seras. I'm not your master any longer. I have no more right over you. You're free Seras."

"You are. And it's cruel."

"No, I'm not." Gentle raise his hands to take hold of her forearms. The wound in his throat still bleeding beneath the tendril quick to wrap itself around it like a bandage.

"What is there to lose?"

Seras holds his gaze as the seconds pass between them one after another.

"Die well?" she whispers slowly starting to pull away and yet the words themselves don't sentence death and instead offer a silent cry for help she whole heartedly wanted him to hear and acknowledge. "When the times comes?"

"Stay." he pleads gripping her upper arms holding her tight. "I beg you stay. Please." _Save me please_. Don't leave me die…_alone_.

"Master…"

"Please." Fresh crimson falls from his corners of his eyes staining her clothes, heartbeat turning irregular. "I bed you please."

"I promised _to stay_." She whispers defeated.

"You are free of that promise."

"Don't do that." She frees her arms from his grasp cupping his face instead. "Don't do _this_."

"Death is already at my door Seras. The life in this body is a lie." His gaze drops and he frees himself completely of her hands choosing instead to sit down next to his black coffin and lean with his back against the cold, smooth black wood. "You've taken my blood, I can't lie about that however much I want to."

"I won't watch you die." She kneels next to him.

"Help me." He weakly pleads looking up at her from under his bangs. "As selfish as it is, please Seras." He takes in deep breath then raise his gaze to look at her from under his bangs, slightly turning his head to the left where she sat. "I want to live."

"You wanted to die just as much not a moment ago. You are the human to kill the monster."

"Then I'll raise form the ashes I seep." He attempt to smile. But fails at it miserably.

"Spoiled, selfish prince." She reaches out to caress his left cheek wiping the new trail of crimson from his cheek. "It won't ever be enough."

"Says the heartless vampire who loves me so much."

"Not as cruelly as you do." Holding his gaze she then leans forward and embraces him once more choosing to rest her head against his chest, listening to the fading sound of his heartbeat. "I hate you."

"I know."

**.**

**.**

To be continued….


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 33**

And so the saga begins. For the next 33-35 chapter, depending on whether I merge 1 or 2 chapter back together to make them longer, I will do my best to try and post 1 chapter a week, so look for them on either Monday or Sunday.

that being said, Enjoy. :)

Chapter 33

.

One empty bed was perched up against the wall of a simple room mostly cast in darkness along the length of the wall, at its foot a small desk with a chair leaving the rest of the room, about a foot in width, open for anyone to walk around.

One lonely figure rested on his belly atop the bed, his arms crossed under his head with his right cheek resting over them. He sighs once more unwilling to open his eyes and gaze at the otherwise emptiness of his room. The mattress was semi reasonable, the sheets as well, and he had two clean blankets just his own which was all that mattered in the end. The room was his and his alone and it was a far luxurious cry from the chamber he had initially been offered in those first few months of his long 6 year sentence.

There would have been food on a plate on his desk by now had a fight not broken out between himself and another trainee three days ago and counting.

Ah yes food, one more day passing on with a morsel to fill his stomach as another would pass with the next 24 hours, then another and another and so forth until his punishment was served. At least it cut down on the otherwise psychical torture he could have been enduring at this point.

A disobedient trainee got no food. Misbehaving meant no food. Speaking out of term meant no food. In short, he was going to starve for the next eight days seeing as one simply wasn't enough. That being said his attention drifted from the emptiness of his stomach to the prickling dull throbbing of his back, the scratches on his knuckles from the fight and his somewhat swollen left cheek that bore a cut directly the large forming bruise. It had all been worth it just to bash that guy's head against the rocks and break him to a bloody pulp. Greatly satisfying to be exact. Too bad he didn't get equally much time with the trainee's older brother as well.

Flashback

_"I still don't understand why you're upset about this. And here I thought you of all people could appreciate a good fucking the most. After all, you did break the last one." Dark brown eyes stared the prince down with narrowed and amused eyes gratifying and delighting in the ever growing discomfort written all over the prince's face._

_"I would stop talking if I were you." A dark threat lingered in the wake of his words, but the other teen was far too caught up his smugness to notice._

_"I beg to differ. I should keep going considering last time did not go so well for you. The poor Wallachian prince couldn't even __**finish**__ properly." He utters that one word with as much mockery and distain as humanly possible in an effort to degrade the young man. "And then you go and break her arm like some fucking dog when you should have just kept on fucking her."_

_Maybe one or two seconds passed…then red covered both of their worlds. The prince's blow was the first of many until the fight escalated to such heights the later found himself bathing his hands in the other's blood while repeatedly basing his skull against the stone floor._

Flashback end

Then again, he made sure to learn a great deal of patience over the years. His stomach grumbled, but he ignored it. Dinner and breakfast would have to wait a while.

His flesh prickled all along the length of back, his skin both hot and red and bleeding from the recent whipping, not that it mattered. He was more than used to the stinging sensation that eventually evolved into a dull throbbing as the hours progressed. Still, there were far fewer bleeding marks on his back this time around than most of the time. They had gone easy on him. Probably because he had already given them a show by beating his opponent practically to death.

No matter, he sighs briefly shutting his eyes. It would pass as all things did. And they always did. Fresh bandages covered his back, the light smell of ointment surrounding him as he dressed his wounds. His hair was pulled back in a loose braid tied at the end with a thin piece of dark brown leather and draped over his right shoulder.

His bed was comfortable and warm…as comfortable and a warm a prison bed could hope to be that is. Nevertheless, he was in a far better cell and situation than when he first arrived six years ago. His older cell had been worse, a lot worse. Nothing more than a paved and cramped hole in the ground with one door and no windows. All he'd had then were a bucket for waist and straw for his bed.

Light shone into this room. Though the window wasn't all that big it held a nice view of the outside world even if it was only the sky and nothing more. It was a little too high to reach without assistance and the grates made it impossible to pass through, but it at least allowed fresh air to seep in and could be closed when needed to stop the cold from seeping in. He had a bed and desk with a chair and even a shelf for his books and clothes. Yet most of all he had food twice a day and the liberty of shutting his own door when he wanted to be alone. It wasn't so much a wing of the prison, but rather a training ground. He wasn't so much a prison, more like an unwilling student forced into servitude.

The sun was setting slowly and surely outside his window putting an end to one more day of hunger and one more night of it growing. And as is set, the brightly glowing orange light turned red then crimson just like the blood of that young girl staining his hands. The girl…

What good was a woman in his hands at this point? She would serve no purpose. All of them so used and so broken in one way or another. A lesson well learned merely one month ago with that _other_ one whose arm he had _merely_ broken. A mistake not to be repeated. The sun was setting lower and lower as the minutes passed and his bed grew warmer and his thoughts lighter. Lighter and lighter…

_Feel…_

He was so desperately wanted to feel something other than the repetitive vicious circle of suffering he'd fallen into. A circle full of unwanted sensations and memories from morning till dusk until the sheer solitude and confinement of his room became a most sought after commodity.

_Just feel…._

_Feel…_

_"Tell me." his tone is low and husky while trusting and looking up into the face of a woman he could not see, one that was leaning in over him starting to whisper…" "Bound to…." without finishing as he grips her waist and flips her over pinning her body to the mattress and her arms above her head in a death grip trusting harder and faster, her legs wrapping around his lean hips tighter and tighter. Her head tilts back but he can never seen enough, always so much gold in his field of vision form her hair stopping him from seeing her face. The strange figure always wearing his cross whenever he dreamed of her. Always feeling controlled at least in some way by the movement of that silver cross dangling from the black leather string tied around her neck. _

_The figure whose face he could never fully see. The strangest fact of all had to be the crimson seeping in amidst all that gold. Eyes as red as blood and a face forever darkened by shadows obstructing his view. The strange clothing: a blood red shirt ending across her belly button exposing her slender waist while opened in a low V at the base of her throat exposing the inner swells of her breast which forever seemed to spill out of her blouse without ever fully revealing themselves. Long golden hair caressing her shoulders and chest whenever she leaned forward. Her face always a hidden shadow never revealed. _

_"Tell me." He pants hoarsely into her right ear as she sighs into his breathing harshly against the column of his neck with each trust of his hips._

_"Bound t…ahh.." she moans louder as he trusts harder and deeper and she meets him trust for trust hands entwining in his long raven hair. "Bound…a promishhh…." She inhales sharply while his lips begin to leave a path down the length of her throat._

_"Tell me." He's close to pleading. So close. The coil in his belly getting tighter and tighter along with the pounding sound of his heartbeat and elaborate breathing like wild thunder ripping across the sky. The glorious sensual cry of her moans, a perfect lullaby to soothe. _

_"No…"_

_"Yes…" he purrs sensually against her parted lips before kissing her, an all consuming kiss, hands gripping tighter fighting for dominance while trusting over and over again though he eventually slowed down to a gentle and deep rhythm. "Yes.." coaxing her into telling him until she finally fell._

_"Deeper…"_

The prince's eyes snap open to the sound of a breathless moan, _that breathless moan_, that somehow ended up in haunting him these last few months. A voice more haunting than the face he never got to see. He quickly jerks out of bed not noticing how close to edge he was and falls bashing the back of his head good against the hard floor. the blow woke him up for good.

He'd fallen asleep.

Fuck.

And he never knew which was worse. Dreaming of her or waking up in the wake of her _visit_.

**Master…**

It always started with that one word. It always came to be with that one word whispered just before sleep came over him completely. A beautiful, yet bittersweet embrace leaving him exhausted and wanting for an embrace he could sparsely hope to imagine.

He could never get her out of his mind afterwards. Not for a long time.

_"Say it" he demands against her lips while obeying her beautiful request. Deeper and harder, yet still slow. Agonizingly slow. The coil so tight at this point he dreaded it would break long before she did._

_"Blood…ah…" so close. She was so close. "A promise…ah… made…ahhh…in blood. I…" her whole body arches beneath him and he grunts loud biting down on his lower lip to stifle the groan to the point of drawing blood, eyelids shutting tight and hands gripping her wrists tightly bruising her skin. He wanted to hear his name called out in the troughs of passion with such heat and desire. A hard and long moan that should have been his name and not a mere solitary vowel he could barely hear._

_"Tell me!" he shouts unable to hold it in any longer._

_"Master!" he comes undone to the sound of 'master' screamed into his ear as her body coils and arches under him raising her hips off the matters crushing his in the cradle of her tights spilling into her. There is this one moment of utter bliss where he looses himself competently and everything goes numb. A moment before a sudden sharp pain consumes his neck moving down the length of his spine where only pleasure should have been._

Thud…thud….thud…

The banging on the door rips him out of his thoughts a second time. He'd been so deeply immersed in them he did not realize he'd taken his right hand up to cup his throat in reflex as if feeling the warm liquid seep down its length staining his flesh.

The third time so far his dream ended…with a bite.

Why?

Why did he have such strange dreams?

And why could he never…see her face?

Thud…thud….thud…

The pounding on his door only got stronger the more he ignored it. There was only one person dumb enough to piss him off this way and when the pounding not stop several minutes in the prince finally let go of the rest of his thoughts.

"**What?**" he thus sneers jerking the door open coming face to face with dark brown eyes and short raven hair. Though he was a few months older than the prince the teenager was still half a head shorter in high despite his growth spur over the last years. "What?" he says again when the latter remains silent portraying only a stupid self satisfactory grin pleased he had gotten his way if that alone had been his main goal to begin with. The prince's shirt hung loosely of his right shoulder and hips as he was quick to hastily put it on without tucking into his pants, a good thing considering his most recent dream, before opening the door. His ruined braid hung over his shoulder messy from sleep.

"Rough sleep?" Ian chuckles quickly giving his appearance a once over.

The prince scoffs at this and merely looks at him with an emotionless expression before he lets go of the door and turns around heading back to his bed. "Go kill someone Ian." He grunts picking up his discarded pillow only to throw it back on the bed against the wall. The bloodied shirt he had worn during training that particular day was still thrown carelessly across the room without a second thought, dark blood smears clear as day upon the fabric.

"So how many did you get this time? A dozen, two? I see you didn't get send to shit hole back in the dungeon." The teen replies as he walks in after him and shuts the door behind him.

"Two and a half."

"Lucky you. And H…"

"Do I look like I care?" Vlad cuts him off before he got to say the other teens name. One had his head bashed in so hard it became a bloody pulp of flesh and bone and...gore upon the floor underneath the prince's hands while the other, well he would just have to rectify that _conversation_ on a later date. the latter had gotten away with far too much ease. and revenge still burned hot like an anvil ready to mold the next weapon. He had _a lot_ of patience.

"You know you're lucky to be alive. After that stunt you pulled."

The prince chuckles louder in reply finding amusement in his words. "Only a fool would think that." He briefly turns to look at the raven haired teenager who moves to lean against the wall opposite of the desk. "I live because they can't afford to _just_ kill me. I am a toy they like to break one piece at a time." And then grins while raising his head a little and his expression takes on a rather disturbingly mischievous look tat looked more morbid than amused. "And death is too quick."

Ian slowly raised an eyebrow at that remark whispering "Right…" in that tone that said he didn't want to know what that really meant. For as close as their relation had gotten over their years spent in training and captivity together, there were certain aspect the teen didn't want to understand or come to understand about the Wallachian price. And that expression was one of them. Some things were better left unsaid and not done, this conversation proving to be one of them.

"She was his daughter." Ian tells him with a sense of pity lacing his words. "That girl you…_killed_ for lack of a better word considereing. That instructor who refused his orders to burn down th…"

"What girl Ian?" the prince asks stopping him once again. "There was no girl. Just a corps."

"You know what I mean."

"Do I?" he raises the tone of voice and paces away from the bed towards the open window. "You're standing where she bleed." And the words prompt the teen to immediately look down to his feet and jerk to the side avoiding the spot as if expecting to find fresh blood there. However, it's only the clean stone floor lacking in evidence that greets him. There was nothing there while the prince had been the one to spend the whole night with a dead body in his room, the metallic scent of blood all around him like a cold blanket of death hovering over his head. And when they came for her she was dragged away and…thrown away. "_The worth of a human life…_" the prince whispers looking at the window with a sudden desire for those tiny pink and white ears and large blue eyes that comforted….the soft purring that kept death away all throughout that night.

"They kept him alive until they showed him the body. But…" pause. "He's not allowed to take his life or grieve her. If he does they'll kill the rest of his family. At least that's what I managed to find out. They've already been taken."

"And that surprises you?"

"Once, yes." He sighs sadly. "I've also heard that he had to…"

"I don't wish to hear it." Vlad turns his back around and as he does so some of the strands fallen over his right shoulder part revealing the beginning of long red cuts that crisscrossed the length of his back along with older white ones long since dealt and healed as he didn't yet bother to readjust his shirt. The bandages only dressed the worst of his wounds over his middle and lower back leaving his shoulders bare.

"Don't think I really want to say it." Ian adds with the same melancholic look on his face.

"Then leave."

"What do you want to do? The month's almost up."

"Why? Do you want to stay here?" Vlad suddenly turns to look at him from over his left shoulder to which the teen merely shrugs his own uttering. "Hell no." while he chuckles running his left hand through his short raven hair. "I'm done with this shit hole."

"Then why worry?"

"One of us has to. It won't be easy."

"It will." Both the grin and the mischievous, somewhat unnerving, glint in his blue eyes reappears making the other teen feel a bit uneasy. He chuckles and the pitch of his voice drops to a palpable difference than before: darker, huskier. "We're _trained_ to kill."

"Very well if you please." The teen agrees with a small grin of his own.

"Fine, we're trained to kill perfectly." he rolls his eyes at the annoying display of childlike behavior he didn't have the patience for. not right now. "Then why still here?"

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"_Take her life?_" he says in a hushed sort of whispered tone while bending down to pick up the discarded shirt off the ground and toss it over the edge of the chair.

"What should I have with her? Have her? That would have been too plain, too boring. Maybe, but that doesn't sound like me."

"Not really." Ian adds not quite sure if he should agree or not with that particular statement. Truth was all of the recruits had been forbidden from taking that girl's life under the penalty of their own death and not a pleasant one at that. The punishment was meant to torture and discipline those who disobeyed without the prospect of the simple mercy death could bring. Almost all of them had had her and to his ever lasting shame he might have too had the girl not been given to the prince beforehand. Judging the facts now instead of then wasn't all that simple. What could have been and what might have been…not an easy thing to comprehend. He wasn't quite sure ho and so to have that decision completely taken out of his hands meant lifting a heavy burden that would have strained his shoulders immensely. At the same time, what could there have been to take. The poor thing was already so broken.

"Did she say anything?"

Flashback

_"Please…" the young raven haired woman pleaded as tears and blood trailed down her cheeks, pleading with the rest of her life-force for death, for clemency…one tiny bit of kindness. "Please…" her lips form the words a second time._

_The prince stared her down for what seemed a long time in silence before reaching out with his right hand to grasp the cross tied around his neck, pull it up and over his head and the press it into her open palm. After that he takes hold of her hand and helps her close it over the silver bangle._

_"__Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." he softly begins to chant while curling his own hand over hers holding the silver cross. _

_"__Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.__"_

_"__**In heaven….**__" the girl weakly whimpers following his lead with what was left of her strength as her body could not stop shaking from blood loss and shock and pain._

_"__Give us this day, our daily bread,__"_

_More tears began falling from the girl's eyes watching as the prince brought his other hand up and over her chest with a small knife he took from his right boot. After that he rested the blade face down pressing the flat length of the blade directly over her heart, the cold metal sheeting itself in the coat of blood marring her flesh and ripped clothes barely hanging over her._

_"__And forgive us our trespasses,__"_

_Her chest struggled in moving up and down with deep, elaborate breaths that would soon cease to exist altogether. And all the while a tiny white kitten stood watch from the shadows in the other corner of the room. Crimson seeping over pristine white fur and onto the dark stone floor she rested upon in utter silence. The girl had been beaten and rapped and repeatedly violated time and time again in every possible way with nothing a shred of humility or mercy until only death was left as the sole salvation her broken had to look forward too._

_Every drop of her still warm blood seeping out of them many wounds inflicted on her person were a testimony of their work. Days of beating and torture and torment to the sound of her cries and pleads and desperation overshadowed and ignored by the laughter and ignorance and cruelty of others. Screaming until her voice got sore and broken and stomped out by sever blows to the head and chest meant to silence her while they fucked and raped and passed her along like a piece of meat from one pair of hand to another in amusement. _

_"__As we forgive those who trespass against us.__"_

_Every word the young prince spoke lightened the load of hopelessness and desperation her blood yet carried. Her tears kept mixing with the crimson seeping from the cuts of her cheekbones and temple and forehead and neck, the potent odor burning Seras's sensitive nose instead of comforting it like a warm, soothing blanket. There was far too little to lift the darkness off her poor soul and the tiny speak of hope coming to life within her with his words was already begging to die. Every word brought her closer and closer to mercy, to freedom…to life. She had lived through and seen death unfold in front of her eyes scorching both her souls and body as only the worst of demons ever could hope to inflict upon any soul unfortunate to fall prey to their hands._

_There was nothing worth living for. Only death and more suffering awaited her outside of that cell, beyond the locked door of a prison without mercy._

_This here…_

_"__And lead us not into temptation,__"_

_As she gripped the cross tighter in her hand to the sound of his deep, soothing voice reciting __**kindness**__ with kind blue eyes passing no judgment in sadness keeping her away form the dark. _

_This was heaven._

_It would all end soon enough._

_His voice kept reciting without wavering one, without removing that freely offered kindness and compassion. He was supposed to be one of them and instead…the same eyes that did not cry and did not judge could still feel sadness and understanding towards her liberation. Eyes that saw passed all that blood and gore and death and broken bones and offered mercy when it was most needed and required. Mercy that will surely cost him punishment she would not be around to witness or hear of. she had expected him to be one of them and laugh and mock at her plea for help. He didn't. He wasn't._

_He became her angel of death._

_"__But deliver us from evil."_

_The blade was turned over so that the tip now faced down directly over her heart. Mercy so beautifully reflected on every inch of his face. The prince softly smiles offering a nod and one final act of kindness to which the girl responds with a weak and faded smile accompanied by a fresh batch of tears streaming down her face. Taking one final deep breath her eyes search his face one last time finally filled with hope and a tiny nod offering both forgiveness and acceptance towards what he was about to do and what she was asking him to._

_"__Amen.__"_

_The tears Seras struggles to keep under control fall freely from her eyes as she allows her head to settle down on her front paw, eyelids dropping._

_"Amen." The girl whispers in reply solemnly and proudly, the smile still standing on her pale and bleeding lips. Her fingers tightly curl around the cross tuning her knuckles white finding great comfort in his own touch upon her hand mimicking her action. Her eyes close to the sound of…_

_"__**Amen."**_

_He's quick and fast and she doesn't feel a thing. He's quick making sure she doesn't suffer any more than she had to at the initial, and only, plunge of the knife into her flesh. Her heart goes silent and with it her blood and her mind and Seras knows without a doubt that she's gone to a better place. Free._

_A second row of tears stain her white fur following in the footsteps of the first to have already marred the white to the sound of the blade being pulled out of the girls chest and then quietly placed on the floor beside her body._

_"Rest now." The prince adds brushing his right hand over her face to make sure her eyelids are closed before offering her left cheek one final caress with the back of his fingers. The very last act of kindness her body would ever come to know once the soldiers came back in the morning to retrieve her and throw carelessly her away like garbage into a nameless grave if any. One more body in a see already overfilling with corpses._

_All that was left now to do was wait and prepare for the inevitable. And as he moves away form the body leaning back against the stone wall until he sat down on the cold stone floor stretching his right leg forward while keeping the left on up and close to his chest, the bloodstained cross he held in his right hand felt heavy while dangling from his closed first. The seconds ticked on in silence until the all too familiar prickle of tiny claws moving over stone reached his ears._

_**Meow…**_

_The sound was beautiful and helped release a heavy sigh from deep within the prince's lungs as the tiny thing approached him one step at a time. For days now, though it felt like a lifetime, the tiny kitten kept appearing in the strangest places all around him until days turned into weeks and those weeks become one whole month of simply watching and waiting._

_Small white paws tiptoed over the stone slabs easily dancing their way across the room as if she were flaying instead of simply waking over the death and gore that stained it. White and pure, untainted by the spilled blood surrounding him. Equally small triangular shaped ears with a soft pink interior peeked into the moonlight seeping through the grates of the sole window, pure white fur and one tiny pink button nose followed along with two large sky blue eyes plucked from the heavens themselves._

_"Meow…." The repeat sound immediately has the right corner of his mouth curl in an upward angle. Such a tiny and light meow that somehow filled the entire room forcing away the cold solitude of silence, the cold and empty feeling he somehow felt greatly justified. A greeting, as if happy to be in his presence once again. His eyes easily found her afterwards._

_He still wandered where she came from and how she was able to so freely walk about the prison without discovery. Truth be told, there were rats far bigger than her, but that didn't seem to stop the small kitten from taking them down as he discovered just a few days passed. Small, yet brutal and ruthless when need be. It had been the first seeing her pristine white fur marred in anything other than white. Red stained it when not even the dirt and soot covering the prison walls and floor managed to touch her. There was something so strangely familiar about her and the more time passed the more he rejoiced in her being there. And yet he couldn't quite remember owning such a cat in the past. Or maybe he just remembered seeing one on the road to Edirne 6 years before in imprisonment. There was but a vague recollection but he couldn't be sure. A lot of things had happened on the road and in between. He had am even vaguer recollection of a stable burning to the ground, or was it a village, and wolves? One pitch black wolf in particular that continued to haunt his dreams to this day. The blood in those red eyes, eyes like he'd never seen on a creature before._

_Real or not, too many blows to the head left that part of his past a partial blank with unfilled gaps he wasn't sure he wished renewed. With the years now passed the details were vague and sketchy not that they mattered to begin with. None of it mattered. _

_"Meow…" Seras meows for a third time while coming up to his right thigh and pressing her head against it settling down next to the warm pant leg. Her tail curls around her front legs, the tip gently twitching every now and then in tune with her left ear._

_"There is nothing here." He whispers breaking the silence after a few more moments to which the kitten offers one final meow curling far closer to his side for comfort and warm. "No food, no water. Nothing for you here." _

_Her purring filled the room shrugging off his words. She wasn't going to leave._

_/I'm here./ she doesn't voice her thoughts out loud, nor does she share them with him to interrupt the gentle lullaby her purring created._

_**Leave while you can. **_

_He didn't need to say it out. She understood nonetheless._

_Leave while you can. While you live. Untainted and pure._

_**She didn't. **_

_She stayed throughout the night until the guards came for the body the next morning. She stayed until her picked her up for the first time and walked her over to the windowsill where he gently placed her before they came._

_She stayed until he pulled his hand away form her soft white fur and rubbed her tiny left ear in between his index and thumb one final time with a barely visible smile gracing his lips._

_"Go." He whispers saying goodbye as the lock on the door was forced opened._

_**And come back to me.**_

Flashback end

Silence fanned out between them for a good few moments before the prince offered his reply gazing out of the window; gazing out into emptiness and nothingness.

"She died."

As simple as that. She died and nothing more.

That's how it ended. That's how it always ended. And how it would always end.

Nothing more and nothing less.

**.**

**.**

_Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name._

To be continued…..


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 34**

AN: for those who did;t quite understand what's happening, chapter 32 ended with Seras about to use the stake in her master. I'm going to really abuse the whole everywhere and nowhere concept of his powers so that this time around everything that happens in the past remains altered in the future. It won't be like last time when Seras entered his memories, this will be real life. This way he'll really have a motive for killing and turning her when the times comes. I'm making her go back into the past for real.

The body Vlad now has is dying , it basically can't sustain the life and the force of his body any longer than it already has (kind of what I did in Seras's situation when he staked her that first time). This way he'll get a fresh new start before becoming a vampire.

Chapter 33 starts in the past, I thought it more interesting to start the saga this way and then chapter 34 where Seras enters the past as well and searches for her master while in Edirne, considering that's where I'll continue the story since last introducing the teenage Vlad in former chapters. And with the killing of that girl, it just gives me a lot of room to exploit Seras's dark powers to the point of scaring the shit out of everyone in this chapter.

Seras basically finds her master 1 month before the plot in chapter 33 happens, I had to give them some time to interact and form a bond before he eventually finds out the simple kitten is actually a bloodthirsty vampire. Won't that be fun? :) She won't make it easy for him.

Also I'm splitting this saga into 2 parts, the first taking place at Edirne while Vlad's 17 while the second is a time skip of 15 years before they'll meat once more. 15 years of Seras living in the dark ages and seeing the a far darker side of the world than she could have ever imagined.

That being said, let's get started.

Chapter 34

**.**

**.**

These humans' weren't normal. Seras couldn't understand.

Large blue eyes followed the movement of three grown men all seated around a small table pilled with food from one of the rafters above their heads partially concealed within the shadows, her small tail swaying from left to right every so often. How many times has she done this so far? At least five if not six this day alone, just staring at the weird behavioral patters of these people.

Of course this was the 15th century and all, but they were all just so…_backwards_. These three more so than the rest she had taken the time to study over the course of the entire day much less the two months now spent in their company since waking up that night on top of a lonely bell tower in the middle of a raging storm. the world around her so utterly different from anything that resembled the slightest bit of home. Everything around her strange and unfamiliar while the people. In time she grew to pity them, yet in time she grew to understand how this was the only life most of these people knew. No wonder her master was so..._different_...from the rest of the world him. He watched the world pas him by, watched it change around him, while himself remaining the same. No wonder...he'd been so _disappointed_ in her. No wonder he wanted her to strive to be..._more_..._better_...than the failing world around him, around them.

A month now trapped in this place, the dark ages, and the world suddenly became clearer. At least the world as he saw it.

As for the men below, this wasn't the first time she watched them, she'd been looking at them for the good part of the day not having gone to sleep once the sun began to rose. All she did since arriving in this world was to search for her master until she finally traced down his scent. Edirne was large and strongly fortified, so different than what she had pictured, and to her surprise not just the mere prison she had come to believe it to be. Edirne was an entire city. And to find one single boy amidst the tens of thousands of heartbeats and scents hadn't been all that easy. She had no idea where to start much less what to search for. There wasn't just one prison in the city and she was forced to search them all just to find her master.

Flashback

_"Can you remember all that?" the young prince asks her too tired to do anything more than rest lay down inside his coffin. It would have been enough just to sit there beside him and listen, more than enough, but she chose to act like his pillow instead and cradled his head on her chest while his shoulders rested over her stomach. Her arms embraced him softly while her legs cradled his own in between. Her left arm rested across his chest held there by his own while her right treaded softly through the short raven bangs covering his forehead. The lid of the coffin was shut tight, but the magic within the coffin allowed the space inside it do bend just as he it had the last time they shared it during Seras's own trial. For the last hour and a half was spent discussing the more estranged moments of his morbid past. There were many significant and quite life changing moments that added up shaped and defined his time as a human. He came close to death one too many times and out of them a few stood out as almost certain death. Luck alone…that's what sparred him…many times over until death finally had its way with him after his 45th birthday. _

_His words were coming in slow and his speech sluggish like fighting off sleep when sleeping was all you wanted to do. His eyes were heavily lidded and his lips lightly parted while his right cheek lazily rested over her right breast. _

_"If by any chance you find me turned, lock me away." he whispers. "Whatever else you do, keep me there locked away. I went mad that very first night and madder still as the days and week passed after that. It would be safest to contain me. I went mad Seras. I could neither see myself or anyone around me. There was only death, death and blood."_

_"What else?" a pillow braced the back of Seras's shoulders and neck against the front end of the coffin. _

_"I'm not sure." He sighs and it takes him close to a full minute to continue. "Offering you to my past, you are sure to have left a mark on me. __**You**__ became __**the one**__ that was different. I like that you're the one that's different. And," he briefly pauses. "You may have been right."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I might have killed you because I remembered you. Maybe as the Childe I found in the dungeon like you said, maybe as the young woman surrounded by flames on the path to Edirne. Or maybe something else entirely." His second pause is longer sigh. "Don't tell me anything Seras. Nothing of this life, alright? I can't know anything of this life. I should ask you to __stay away from me Seras. To promise you won't come. And I won't ever know you." Maybe, he'll get to remember her...because of this._

_"If that is what you wish master." _

_"I want to know you." He whispers contradicting his own earlier statement hugging her hand all the more tighter. _

_"I can do both." She tells him in an equally soft tone finding a loophole._

_"I'm a caged animal little one, just show me some kindness if you can. If you're still willing." If it wasn't already too late. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid of everything, deep down. I have thick walls wrapped around me to protect, but deep down….I fear everything around. The cold and isolation in my cell is bliss compared to all other form of interaction. A mean to an end until I can find myself back in that isolation completely torn from the rest of the world. __You need to let me die. There are nights you must let me die Seras." The prince tells her felling her right hand move to cares his left cheek. "Decisions I will make that will bring the end of thousands but need to be done. I will die many times over before actually being killed by the hands of my enemy. And the world will forever brand me...monster. As they should."_

_"I can't let you die."_

_"That choice will never be yours draculina. I kept them free to the best of my abilities. That's all that matters. History, my history and the fate of my country all rest with those decisions. They cannot be changed for the sake of one and will never be changed. Human life is expendable and regrettably true for the many who strive to rise and rise with the sacrifice of others whose lives value and weigh so much less."_

_"One is enough." Seras cuts him off feeling his cheek lean further into her open palm. _

_"Then for the sake of one sacrifice this for me." His eyes never looked more peaceful. "Let us live and die by choice. And allow me the freedom my people had at my hand." Breathing in he sighs deeply urging his eyelids to open a bit more. "However bloody they may be. Many will die and many will betray me, but for the sake of peace it has to happen. Please understand."_

_However monstrous and bloody it may be. A ruling in blood and slaughter so that some may live in the wake of those sacrificed._

_"I make no promises master."_

_The prince smiles closing his eyes allowing his body the luxury of relaxing. He was mostly done saying all he felt he needed to say. "Good girl." _

_"I'll promise if you wish me to." She whispers gently caressing his cheek before returning to the silken strands of his bangs. She promises to stay away and keep him safe. _

_Thud...thud...thud...thud…..._

_His heartbeat grew slower and fainter while the same stake once used on her own heart ominously rested beside them close and within reach. _

_"__**All of them will die."**__ Seras bites down on her bottom lip drawing blood, blood required to seal her promise and make it everlasting. "Should any of them harm you." The thin rivulet trickles down her chin for a second before her tongue easily swipes it from her flesh. _

_She's aware he hears nothing of her silent promise. His eyes drew closed and his chest rose and fell at a snails pace moving ever slower while his heart beat did the same until the strong beat of his heart became a swallow thumping sound her ears struggle to follow. He was cold and getting colder and his skin just as pale as her own. _

_Thud...thud...thud..._

_The stake is cold and firm in her palm as she picks it up in her right hand and slowly brings over his heart, a black tendril cutting into the soft wool of his mohair sweater and the shirt underneath exposing the left side of his chest._

_Thud...thud...thud..._

_She knew she needed to strike before the final beat struck and his heart grew utterly silent, but she hesitated for a few seconds more just in case. She didn't want to strike to soon. She wanted just a few seconds more to enjoy the gently soothing rhythm of his heartbeat and the tiny speak of lingering warmth yet left in his body._

_Thud...thud...thud..._

_"Sleep well." She strikes just as he had and the coffin in once again flooded with the unmistakable scent of blood that surrounds them. She bites down on his throat feeling sleep overtake her as well as the blood he drank enters her system as well. Runes appeared all over the interior of the coffin, the same words all over again._

**_In the sea without lees_**_  
><em>**_Standeth the bird of Hermes_**

**_Eating his wings variable_**_  
><em>**_And maketh himself yet full stable_**_  
><em>**_When all his feathers be from him gone_**_  
><em>**_He standeth still here as a stone_**

_Her eyes grow ever heavier as blood beings to surround them both like a blanket swallowing them up. Her mouth bloodstained as she pulls away whispering…._

_"Here is now both white and red and also the stone to quicken the dead." She remembered the words as though he'd spoken them himself merely seconds ago. Speaking just as he had last time they shared this sort of bonding. "Here standeth the Bird of Hermes. Eating my own wings, to keep...myself tame..."_

_The stake falls with her hand…._

_Thud..._

Flashback end

"Then just stay…a little longer…"

Yet all those prisons had little to do with the military facility she was investigating. A city of its own within a city and all of them were bread to kill without questions asked.

A thought which led her back to the three men she was currently observing. They were skilled and well trained, but….they were just paws to be sent in first without strategy. They had the training, but not the mind for it. No one bothered to teach them that. So when she started to play with them, making small shadows come to life as though they were rats drawn in by the smell of food, she quickly found how easily distracted they could be but also how terribly affected….better said, how well trained they were and how badly they desired to stomp the life out a small creature merely seeking food and survival. All three of them went after the two shadows like vultures descending on their pray. Of course that made it a whole lot easier to steal some of their food, but now she just stood there watching from above at how truly abysmal their manners were. Good thing she saved a bit of meat and bread before they touched that too without bothering to at least clean their hands after relieving themselves or interacting with the two large guard dogs that kept them company. All that slobber and fur getting in the way…a hard sight to bare.

Still, she was there for more than just nicking a bit of food for her master. Food she regrettably couldn't get him to eat. She always brought it, sneaking it into his chamber hoping he would eat, but found it untouched each time she returned. No guards entered his room and no food was ever brought since discovering the length of his deed. It hurt to watch his starve, and it hurt more to know he held no trust in any decent attempt to feed him no matter from whom the gesture might be.

All three men reeked of the fear that poor girl had suffered. These three and more. The guards and trainers had apparently had a _lot_ more fun with her than the actual trainees themselves who'd been offered whatever scraps remained. They reeked of it…did they even bother to wash? No, of course not. After all they were still laughing about it in what could only be describe as morbid delight. How tight, how wet, how her screams and pleas filled their ears and so forth. Thoughts as to how they would have enjoyed more of her had they not been forced to pass her on as instructed.

Gods they made her sick. Scum and filth such as these that gave all those around them a bad name regardless of time or place.

With a heavy and bored sigh Seras lets her head drop atop her paws and her ears to lower before shifting her gaze across the room to the small circular grated window no bigger than her on the opposite wall to see the bright glow of the orange sunset fill the sky. The day was finally ending and with it vengeance for that poor young girl.

Yes, all of them would die. And this world will finally see a true vampire for what she was.

**.**

**.**

There weren't many moments in his young life so far when the prince found himself so utterly out of breath and so out of his league as in that moment right then while dashing at high speed from rooftop to rooftop under the constant beating of the ice cold raindrops and strong wind cutting at his skin in spite of the clothing he wore. They were as cold and wet and sticking to his body as his long raven hair and each breath that passed though his lungs felt like cold steal cutting into his flesh over and over again prolonging the agony. The muscles in his legs burned and he could barely feel them, but he pushed on fighting the pain and the cold. His hands held tight to the twin blades he was caring. Ian ran by his side to the left while four others followed behind. As for the rest, they were crossing the rooftops along a different path.

Not that it made much of a difference where they went or searched, bodies were literally falling out of the sky at every turn. All of them forced to run through the night and hailing storm to find the one responsible. To find one little girl responsible for all this death. they ran and even as they fled, they were being picked apart one by one.

Flashback

_"All of them will die__**.**__" The words cut in deep through the profound silence making it all the harder for the prince to swallow the heavy lump in his throat, his eyes still so wide in disbelief towards the sight that greeted him._

_She vanished. She was gone. The tiny white kitten was gone._

_And in her place… _

_"__**All of them will die**__." He had to blink once, then twice just to get his mind working again. He couldn't breathe. The tiny, small kitten was…she was…_

_Pearl white fangs and blood red eyes come out to greet him along a tone that utterly froze him in place._

_A girl…_

_She was a girl. _

_Dark, reasoning laughter bounded of the walls in the wake of the fanged grin she offered him, her canines growing longer and longer until they grazed over her bottom lip close to piercing it. Human teeth could not do that. Human eyes did not look like that. Human eyes did not flash red with blood or appear out of the shadows._

_Cats did not turn into girl as stunning as her._

_"Death is quick."_

_And before he has a chance to do, say or even think anything more…she was gone. Vanished into thin air with words that spoke of bloodshed to come. _

Flashback end

One girl, at least to the extent of his limited knowledge. A girl with long and flowing yellow hair and eyes red unlike any he's ever seen, her skin pale as marble and her expression nothing short of deadly. The small tiny kitten creeping around his window at night…was a girl…and a beautiful one at that. And worse, the same one he'd always dreamed of. But for everyone else she was…

Thunder muffled a part of a sudden scream forcing all of them to abruptly turn and change direction as they had many times within the last two and a half hours.

_**Monster…**_

They weren't hunting. They were being hunted. She was toying with them to an incredible extent and had it not been for the horrid cold and the fresh wipe marks crying out on his back with every move his muscles made he might have actually enjoyed the game a lot more. They were all prey hunted down by an expert killer who didn't just kill. She maimed and terrorized at the same time. And the chase was indeed exhilarating even if he was one of the damned and soon to be rotten flesh ripped and dismembered atop of the many rooftop their prison bared; his blood about to join the rest of the red torrent already diluted by the cold rain.

Fate wasn't on his side that night. On his or anyone else's. Once again they came across death with no sight or a single trace of the one responsible in sight. The corpse hung precariously close to the edge of a bunker's flat roof while the rain made short work off all the spilled blood quickly diluting it to the point where it dripped over the edge much like the rest of the fat raindrops were doing.

_All of them will die._

Looking down at the broken body, twisted and laid out before them, the prince found those words to ring an awful undeniable truth once more. The man was one of the guards the prince knew to be assigned to his and Ian's part of the large so called housing complex along with 10 others. Unfortunately, had it not been for the distinct burn mark on the underside of his exposed left forearm no one would have guessed who he was. His face was clawed and mangled beyond recognition and his throat wasn't just cut open as they found some of the other bodies to be. Instead it was ripped open as if some animal had taken his jaws to it and bit down ferociously close to decapitating him. His head barely hung from what was left of his spine and muscle and dangled to the right half way over the edge of the roof itself.

The 10th body so far and all of them broken differently…almost like a pattern. The bite mark was familiar by now, a wolf no question about it. However, there was something more to it, something the prince couldn't yet place. These men weren't randomly picked despite what some of the other guards thought. They couldn't be. Not with the way they were targeted. Because if you took away the cause of death and looked passed it not one of the 10 victims was the same. All the wounds scattered across bodies thrown on rooftops or the ground below formed a pattern on the large bloody canvas his prison had become.

All of them…

"Amen…" Ian's voice stops his train of though urging the prince to blink and look down to the right where the teen stood knelt at the victim's side with his right hand moving away form the latter's ripped tunic, the blood soaked edges pushed apart to reveal the middle of his chest.

"What?" the prince barely has a chance to ask when another teens comes up from behind and yanks Ian away from the body his left shoulder to look at it himself.

"The hell you talking abo…" another begins to speak however, he too stops at the sight of those four letters carved deep into the man's chest. The rain made short work of the dried and coagulated blood spilled shortly after death cleaning it entirely until the dark letters stuck out with ease against the now ashen tone of his skin.

**Amen.**

"The fuck is this?" there wasn't a need to describe or doubt the sudden sense of uneasiness that took over the entire group of teens. It was more than perfectly written atop all of their faces. The letters were large and roughly cut into his skin and the fact that they bled so much mean the victim had most like still been alive when she took the blade to his chest.

"_Amen…_" the prince mouths in silence eyes glued on the dead body.

Flashback

_"__But deliver us from evil."__ The blade was turned over so that the tip now faced down directly over her heart. Mercy so beautifully reflected on every inch of his face. The prince softly smiles offering one final act of kindness to which the girl responds with a weak and faded smile accompanied by a fresh batch of tears streaming down her face. Taking one final deep breath her eyes search his face one last time finally filled with hope and a tiny nod offering both forgiveness and acceptance towards what he was about to do and what she was asking him to. "__Amen.__"_

_"Amen." The girl whispers in reply solemnly and proudly, the smile still standing on her pale and bleeding lips. Her fingers tightly curl around the cross tuning her knuckles white finding great comfort in his own touch upon her hand mimicking her action. Her eyes close to the sound of…_

_"__**Amen."**_

_The knife going in…_

Flashback end

The prince blinks to the sound of deafening thunder roaring high above his head.

A bite mark...

Thinking back he remembered the young woman having had a bite mark on the right side of her throat, though he didn't pay much attention to it at the time considering the vast number of marks, cuts and bruises already marring her skin. A mark scabbed over by dried flakes of coagulated blood though the human teeth marks remained more than visible. All those markings atop her body…that's what he saw. That's what he'd been seeing one on each of the 10 victims so far. The more he thought about it the more those wounds he chose to ignore while on her death bead stuck out in his subconscious mind. Was this….

The second a third person attempted to reach out and touch the body a swarm of bats violently and suddenly rose into the air by the edge of the building at high speed chirping and screeching as a bolt of lightning cut though the air to the sound of roaring thunder. Hundreds of small black creatures filled the sky encircling the small group to the point of completely isolating them from the rest.

"Get back. Get back!" the prince shouts grabbing hold of Ian left shoulder to pull him back to safety away form the edge. He didn't bother about the rest.

_All of them will die…_

_All of them will die…_

The words rang inside his mind like a broken record he finally pieced together.

"All of them will die…"he whispers so softly with an actually undertone of fear that only Ian hears, but as soon as his head turns to the prince, a look of terror and confusion written all over his face, his lips never get to form the words. They can't and they don't have too as enough screams suddenly echoed all around them within seconds as all 4 teens accompanying them were scooped up by whiffs of darkness and thrown away. Two on a different roof several feet away while two all the across the yard having the life stomped out of them as soon as their bodies hit the thick stone wall. The bats…all of their small beady eyes glowed red….their ranks tightening while closing in on the prince and his friend. A black hand suddenly reached out aiming to grab hold of Ian's right shoulder and pulled him away with enough force his back hit the wall of the nearest building glued to the one they were currently standing on. The blow left him unconscious. He didn't even have to scream beyond the initial gasp of surprise at having his shoulder grabbed. The bats suddenly within a sea of rain water and blood.

"No!" the prince shouts quickly spinning around so that his blade cuts though the air and the dark mass before it had the chance to fully engulf the teen into its clutches. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Not by a long shot. For the whiff of smoke continued circling the unconscious teen ready to kill. "I said no!" he quickly places himself in between the darkness and his friend, blade still up in his right hand which he held parallel to the ground ready to use. If only he hadn't let the second one on the ground next to he body. The bats flew faster and more disorganized chirping louder. Then, without warning the young woman appeared right in front of him emerging from a swirling vortex of shadows till she stood no more than a few step away from the sharp edge of his curved blade. The bats dissipated in every direction and it wasn't until that happened that he noticed the lack of cold water beating down his skin; they were keeping it at bay. Thunder struck again and it was so close and so loud the light it generated illumined the entire sky and rooftop. Vibrant golden hair stuck out from under the blanket of darkness. Several thick strands covered a good part of her shoulders and framed her face pale most beautifully accentuating the reddish glow of her blood red irises. Gold briefly became all the dark haired teen's blue eyes could see, so fluent the color seemed to have a life of its own. It shone so beautifully, unworldly, that she looked nothing like the creature than briefly appeared in his room merely hours before. Her canines were long and sticking out form under her bottom lip and her skin was utterly pale and so much white while being caressed by the rain's ice cold touch. Bats and darkness swelled behind her, her long hair moving with them as she moved closer taking once graceful step after another as though she were dancing across that very darkness. Strike after strike of lighting cut though the heavy layers of dark grey and black clouds illuminating her from various angles.

She looked as beautiful as she was deadly. And it left him...enchanted. Terrified, yet enchanted none the less.

"I said no." He repeats but Seas kept on walking until the very edge of his blade was pressed up against the base of her throat and his arm was forced to retreat towards his chest until it had nowhere else to go. The blade alone kept them apart as the prince stood over the body of his friend with his legs on either side of his partially raised knees. And still she moved in closer, closer, closer… her face stopping inches from touching his. And though he was already taller than her, by more than half a head at least and in need of looking down when speaking to her, he somehow felt small and insignificant in the face of such a creature.

"All of them." Seras says it without remorse of regret holding his gaze. Black tendrils escaped from under her feet cracking the shingles and stone of the roof before moving up the wall on either side of Ian's unconscious form. "Will die."

"No!" Vlad shouts standing his ground breathing hard. Never in his life had he come across something such as her. Bats obeyed her, the darkness obeyed…darkness she commanded. Red, blood red eyes and fangs. The fear seeping into his bones….fear he had forgotten…fear that wasn't born of a human life. "Stand down." He commands with as much force pushing away the fear and the terror he wouldn't allow to control him.

"**_ Make me!_**" thunder roared along with her shout pressing herself into the edge of the blade and though it cut her skin along her throat she made no move to pull back. Both the darkness and the bats responded in kind, but not in the manner he had expected. They didn't attack him. And it wasn't his scream that continued to haunt the night sky in the drumming sound of war and death in the utter chaos and slaughter of war. The heavens above cried along side the bloodshed weeping for those fallen and washing away all the filth and gore spilled over the moist soil. Lightning lashed across the sky spreading wide and thunder boomed louder than a tank, heaven itself bore a war of its one, one that matched and mimicked the mortal plains below.

She didn't need to see to kill them. She didn't need her own hands to end their retched and miserable infested lives. What mercy did animals like them deserve? What kindness did they deserve when they were themselves incapable of such a feat? Was kindness such a disease amongst these beasts? Taught to train and kill and obey…mercy was as foreign a notion as kindness. One can kill with mercy. One can fight and live and survive without turning into a monster. Without becoming _them_.

She had watched and waited and judged and still the agony in those few drops of blood she had taken to her lips that night from that girl haunted her. People could not do that. Humans should not perform such horrendous deeds on another with such pleasure and delight. Humans should be human not monsters!

Alone with hands already stained red and blood dripping off her fingers Seras stood atop the bell tower of the prison watching the world and the chaos unfold below her feet. Watching as her powers did the work in her place from a distance as men continued to be slaughter in a hell and judgment of their own making. Delighting in the fear she brutally forced into their souls. Why should they be allowed comfort from fear when they themselves denied it? Why should they be forgiven just because they now feared in equal punishment? They wouldn't. And they shan't.

Long claws dug deep into the rocky edge of the tower while her crimson eyes scanned the field bellow seeing everyone and everything, but not finding the one person she so desperately desired to find.

'All of them will die.' Those had been her words. But she never allowed him to hear the silent 'I'm sorry' that should have followed. For there was one he loved and cared for, one who would have sinned if given the chance. And she would break his heart by taking that boy's life.

Once her fourth victim feels the panic instilled and forced them to fight back as more and more young men took to roofs and ground in search of the killer, searching for her and sealing their own deaths. Shadows and bats were efficient, but her hands and her claws even more so. Each life she took brought forth the promise of forgiveness for what they had done. She forced them too see and feel everything she had at their hands. An eye for an eye until the wounds deal were equally felt by all those who took delight in the death and suffering of one innocent soul punished for wishing _freedom_.

Eventually, the smell of blood lured her in, a faint and distant scent all the way across on the other side of the large complex, and it captured her attention in a instant overwhelming all other scents around her until it was the only one her nose could pick up. The rain, the screams and the blood all faded away…there was only him.

Darkness consumed her and within seconds a black wolf sprang from it, her legs propelling her forward as claws sank into the hard stone leaving deep scratches. The walls and rooftops of each building making up the complex blended into simple black polls rising from the ground as she ran faster and faster never keeping her eyes off the raven haired teen running in front of a small group of six. Then, someone finally shouted after her master having to call his name out loud to get his attention over the deafening sound of the thunderstorm.

/Master…/

The heavy rain distorted her vision, but she could still see him as clearly as day. Finally. She had waited long enough. And with him was that boy. She knew him and had seen him before. His name on the tip of her tongue since she would be the one to end his existence much like she did the rest of those beasts.

But he could wait a little while longer. And so could two more within their group for there was another who deserved death so much more.

She changes direction without a moments' hesitation and her paws break some of the shingles cracking the in to. The noise alerts her victims, but she doesn't care. Her ears easily picked up the sound of metal clashing against metal and stone. Her jaws open wide….her ears filled with death's embrace and vengeance...

"Stand down." Her master stood strong and defiant in the face of the same death that had taken the rest. He neither faltered nor cried even as she forced his blade into her own skin.

I'm sorry…

Both her mind and soul cry for his forgiveness, but it needed to be done. She wanted vengeance. And it wasn't just for the girl

_Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..._

But for those blue eyes that recited so beautifully. These men were not men. They were beast. How could they be anything but? How could they be _human_? The worth of a human life…was it truly nothing? Was any of this truly worthless?

Blood trickled down the sides of the young teens face from a thin cut over his left eyebrow one of her bats accidentally caused when encircling the group only to rip it apart. His long black hair plastered to his head, shoulders and face from the cold water pouring down his back along with diluted crimson from the still open wounds on his back. The scent was so much stronger with him standing right beside her.

_**"Make me!** **"**_ She didn't mean to shout, but she did. She didn't mean to hurt him, but she might. She could not stand down. She couldn't. If she did that poor girl would fade forgotten in a long line of doomed souls cursed to fall pray to the hands of these creatures. A soldier kills and acts following orders, obeying orders. She would not see them as such. She could not see them as such. That would require _mercy_ she did not have and would not spare.

_I'm sorry. _

She never should have been sorry.

He kept his right forearm tightly pressed against his chest while the blade sank merciless into her throat further cutting off all air supply not that she needed it while the other held a knife he'd swiped from one of his attackers, a knife he wasted no time in burring deeply into her chest embedding the blade between two of her ribs on the left side of her ribcage. The blade, though the sharpest he'd even wielded, went in fairly easy pushed there by sheer power.

Terror and fear urged her on to such a point it made her forget…her master wasn't afraid. Not like the rest. And he took full advantage of her seconds long moment of distraction to act. Clever boy.

And as the blade was pulled out of her chest by the same hand that struck her she couldn't help but allow herself the small courtesy of whimpering in pain in front of him. Crying in pain made her human and less than the monster she proved herself to be.

"_**Don't**_." the prince demands despite the hidden plea hidden behind a strong and determined voice, blues eyes hard and narrowed in concentration as they searched her face for the anger and the resentment that was beginning to fade washed away by the ice cold rain much like blood seeping from the cut on his face.

Each and every one of them. She was after them for one reason and one reason only…

"He didn't."

"He would have." She challenges him by placing her right hand atop his left holding the bloody knife he had stabbed her with, the crimson getting partially washed away by the rain.

"He didn't!"

"Then stop me!" she shouts back forcing his hand forward so that his fist hit her side and the cold blade pressed dangerously close to the wound he had already inflicted. "Make me." She tells him again never breaking eye contact.

"You stayed and you watched her die." The prince accuses her finally moving the blade of his sword upward do that it pressed diagonally against the top of her chest and the right side of her throat. as the kitten she stood there...watching her die...just as he did. So why not save her? Why? He couldn't help but ask as soon as the though came to mind. He thought it, yet never brought it to words. He didn't even know what she was? Who she was?

"If I did…" Seras pauses before the word 'ghoul' could take life. Giving that girl blood was the equivalent of turning her. She had so little blood left she would have died either way form exsanguination and the shock her body would have gone into. She was drained of blood to the point of being drained as if by a vampire. She was already tainted…impure…by the touch of so many.

Flashback

_"__Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.__"_

_"__**In heaven….**__" the girl weakly whimpers following his lead with what was left of her strength as her body could not stop shaking from blood loss and shock._

Flashback end

So much hope had filled that word when the girl sobbed it crying in his arms on her deathbed. So much hope that the though of denying her was unbearable. Her blood meant a curse everlasting to the darkness. She would not see her deprived of the _heaven_ she rightly deserved.

"Here!" someone shouted from two stories below. "Over here! Another one." One more body to swell the ranks of the dead. And with that shout the bats no longer concealed them; ice cold rain battering down on them once more.

"Who are you?" the prince asks finally daring to pose his question. However, instead of a genuine reply Seras pushes forward neglecting the blade that cut a longer and deeper path into her skin and slid the right side of her throat open. She pushed forcing his upper body and his neck against the cold wet wall of the tower and planted both her hands on ether side of his shoulders.

"_**Death**__._" her words held a solemn promise while purred into his left ear so that her lips brushed against the shell of his ear sending a different kind of shiver down his spine. "_**All of them will**__**die**__." _And then…_" My master._"

His eyes go wide at the connotation. He gasps, but the sound is trampled over.

Thunder roared and lightning struck…

And the storm rained blood for the rest of the night.

_He'll be the last…_

_One way or the other…_

_**.**_

_**.**_

To be continued…


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 35**

Sorry for not posting last week, but I was sick as a dog with fever, chills, the work. it's all better now, so let's get back to the story at hand. :)

Enjoy.

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Chapter 35

He was running….

Damn it.

Rain fell, pouring down on his tired frame relentlessly, ice cold under the battering force of the wind that never offered a break.

The storm raged on. And…he was lost…

His skin was cold though the sky and ground were alit with a raging, blazing fire in the distance. Orange and red light and pitch black smoke rose to meet the sky. Half of the granary complex had gone up in flames taking down good part of the outer wall of the citadel. Red hot flame spiraled out of control towards the heavens. So much for the seemingly peaceful retreat the last few days of his 6 long imprisonment should have had. The collapsed wall opened up the way to the forest located on the southern most side of the complex.

And all that blood was sure to lure in the wolves that patrolled it. They would come lured in and drawn by the unmistakable scent of blood and the prospect of a fresh kill.

Lightning struck the sky somewhere in the distance behind him reflecting his shadow on the wet stone laid out in front of him. Regrettably, that wasn't the only shadow the lightning shed light upon. A large and darker shadow loomed over his own consuming it almost whole as the creature behind him approached. A low-pitched rumble filled the air forcing the rest of the wolves to step back with a submissive whimper just as a bolt of thunder struck effectively silencing the rest of the howls. The pack was already scattered all over the compound from the fall and the death of the alpha. And with the lead wolf gone the remaining beasts became scattered and leaderless doing the only thing they knew best: kill to survive. Some of the stronger and more capable of the beasts began challenging one another for the title of leader, but that didn't stop from going after pray over and over again. They were hungry and the scent of blood was far too potent to resist, a fresh kill so easily within reach. Some already dead just waiting to be devoured.

However the second that particular growl pierced through the air all of them backed off with a whimper of submissive distress. Whatever that growl was, the creature it sprung from was larger and stronger and all the more deadly than the rest.

The prince still lay on all fours slowly attempting to push himself up on his elbows and knees from the fight with the other teen, his right shoulder bleeding from the inflicted stab wound the coward had dealt him while saving his own ski. After all, wolves preferred going after the injured and bleeding creatures that ones who could fully defend themselves. It was easier and took far les effort and energy. So why waste it?

The rain did nothing to dilute the scent of his blood all around him and though it washed some of the blood seeping from his wound it only spread more crimson around him. All of his hair was matted to the back of his neck with only a few loose strands to fall over his forehead. The knife he previously retched out of his shoulder while rolling away from his attacker now lay close within his grasp with only a few cm to spare between the wooden handle and his hand. A weapon his right hand slowly reached out grasp in spite of the wound having partially numbed his hand. He couldn't risk using the left. It would betray far too much movement, movement the wolves would not take lightly too.

Looking down at his hands, his fingers slowly curling around the handle of the blade, he saw the shadow looming over him grow wider and darker until the tail tale signs of two pointy ears and a muzzle came forth putting all doubts aside as to what that creature truly was.

His shoulders moved up and down with ragged and uneven breaths, lips widely parted in order to allow as much air to pass into his lungs as possible. Every breath hurt his shoulder, but it wasn't until the growl stomped out everything around him that he was forced to stop and just listen for the span of one long agonizing moment. The cart behind him wasn't all that far, perhaps half a foot away, meaning whatever just crawled atop him had the perfect advantage of both stalking and trapping his prey.

Something big came towards him, something heavy moved with the grace of a feline to the sound of something sharp scraping against the stone under his hand with each step that undoubtedly brought the creature closer and closer to his position and the tipped over barrel cart it then climbed on top of.

The rumble in the beast's chest then echoes in a far softer term as if sensing his prey out and the prince found the gap he needed to breathe once more. He was forcing himself to take far smaller and shallower breaths than before. Blood still trickled down the length of his arm until several droplets smeared the handle of the knife he now tightly grasped between his fingers. A broken piece of wood lay within reach in front of him, but was it worth the risk of reaching out for it? A puzzling dilemma. He could attempt it. Best case scenario, he would have something more to protect himself. Worst case scenario, he was giving the wolves a very good reason to pounce on his back far sooner than they should.

Before making his decision he dared to gaze over one shoulder and look at whatever it was that hunted him down with such desire to kill when….

**Blood…**

Blood red eyes stared him down, the same kind of blood like the crimson dripping form the creature's jaws as its head slowly turned to face him.

Eyes as red as….eyes he's only ever seen once before in his life no more than a few hours ago.

Eyes as red as…hers…

/Run…./ words so innocently whispered into his mind he barely heard or understood them from both fear and panic. Words his mind did not perceive, but his body instinctively recognized thus tensing in preparation.

Words so reminiscent of…her voice…

**/**_**Run!/**_ the scream comes with a menacing growl as all the surrounding wolves pounce attacking all that stood in their path and his body reacts in turn. Even the fool who stabbed him offering him up as bait to prologue his own existence succumb to the long arm of the death he tried to escape from. He tipped over an empty pot perched on one of the windowsills while climbing thus alerting the unsuspecting wolves to his presence. They had, till that moment, been solely focused on the bleeding teen utterly at their disposal. Two wolves lunged after the body growling and barring their teeth while attempting to jump up and climb the steep wall and pull their victim down. Their actions broke the already unbalanced dynamics of the pack and all hell broke loose causing the rest of the creatures to pounce as well.

He ran. In the confusion the prince threw away all sense of caution and ran. He picked up the piece of wood, as foolish as that move ultimately proved to be, and ran as fast as his legs allowed.

The wolves gave chase, two large grey ones flanking him on either side while a third followed behind. And all the while he ran to the sound of the other teen's fall as one of the larger and stronger wolves lunged after him propelling himself upward along the length of the wall biting down on his right ankle with enough force to catch a good grip and pull him down with him.

After that….the prince ran on shutting his mind of the horrid sounds of his death cries and those of the creature that began to feast on him while still alive. He ran to the sound of his screams and the howls and growls of the wolves who finally claimed their price ripping the teen apart.

The twin wolves flanking his either side played with him as they faked biting his legs one after another, playing with their food before ultimately going for the kill, while the third followed behind ready to make the kill the others kept distracted. His claws extended and his lips curled back revealing his teeth ready to lunge at the right time and jump of his prey and bite deeply into his neck from behind. A quick and bloodless death before devouring him whole.

/It's no fun./ the voice came again over the erratic sound of his ragged breath and heartbeat and with it the creature pounced. Claws sank into his shoulders cutting at his flesh as the heavy weight on his back forced him to his knees rubbing them raw along with the pads of his hands and his left elbow. The piece of wood he had sought to help save his life ended up under him bruising his abdomen and ribs from the harsh fall knocking the air out of his lungs. It's only by sheer luck that the knife falls from his hand and the sharp tip of the blade embeds itself into ground instead of his flesh. The claws sink in hard drawing blood after which they move down over his shoulder blades as the wolf settles atop him jaws at the ready. He growls while the others whimper and for a moment all seems lost within the span of a heartbeat. The beast lunges for his throat with a growl and everything stops with that one traitorous heartbeat that dared betray the silence of death, that one heartbeat that continued to linger on defying all odds.

/Fool!/ a second heavy weight settles atop his shoulders for a moment with a far terrifying growl than the one before and the claws embedded into his skin scrape over his shoulder blades from the blow in five long cuts each that force a cry from his lips.

/Learn to run!/ the voice shouts so loud it pierces his ears just as the weight is removed from his back with that horrid sting that cut into flesh, a sting he knew all too well.

The black wolf easily descends on its prey shoving its jaws beneath the creature's throat with more strength and less effort than it took to push him off the boy. Bone is easily crushed and flesh torn apart until the beast lies dead at its feet. With one more growl the creature then descended on the other two still too confused by the haste of the act to strike back.

Just like before. It all happens just like before. And in the span of a few more heartbeats the death cries of wolves' fill the air until that one all consuming growl silenced everything echoing 10 times as strongly as before. This time the growl truly put the fear of the Devil into all the hundreds of living souls within the compound. The wolf growl and everything goes silent.

/You don't know when to run, do you?/

The prince gasp hearing the voice anew and his shoulders reflexively jerk at the sound forcing him to once again stop whatever he was doing, in this case his attempt to crawl away while the wolves were busy fighting amongst themselves. Whatever managed to heal over the course of the last few days was viciously reopened in the wake of those talons clawing their way over and through the skin of his back. Five long gashes marred each shoulder cutting through the wet shirt covering it like it was paper, gashes horribly reminiscent of something that one happened to him in the past. The feeling of being followed and watched by those beasts far too familiar for some reason. His body had shut down as if in remembrance knowing there was nothing he could do but give in into despair.

The haunting sound of hauling wolves another one of the many reason he was sometimes kept up throughout the night. The images were always broken and never complete and it was only the horrid of their howling that never faltered.

/This is no fun,/ fresh blood seeped out of his wounds covering the entire length of his back as he slowly uncurled his arms from around hid head and then carefully turned it around as to look over his right shoulder finding those same blood shot eyes, redder and brighter that the crimson spilled all around him. The severed and dismembered remains of his persecutes surrounded him in a bloody testament all of their own.

/If you die./ the same large black wolf stalked him down approaching at an incredibly slow pace, tail swishing behind its large body and claws easily marring the ground beneath them just others had done to his back. The words became an all too familiar chuckle just like the black body and fur changed into leather and the four pair of legs became two. Two legs that then crouched down to his level bringing that pair of brightly shining crimson eyes along with a fanged grin and so much gold.

"One more down and I have yet to thin the lines." The look in her eyes deadly and precise and her grin even wider. "I would run," the vampire stands up in front of him without a hint of mercy in those pools of blood called eyes. "If I were you. Don't think I'll save you again."

He's left there bloodied and bruised, speechless and utterly terrified unable to utter a single syllable in return.

The wolf, that wolf, was….undead…

_I'd run if I were you._

The wolf was her….

_**Vampire…**_

**.**

**.**

Breaking wood and a scream…

Breaking wood squeaked and cried loudly as twin figures fell through in a cloud of dust surrounded hard debris.

The floor had caved in under his feet. Everything after that was sort of a blur for a good few moments until his head and vision finally cleared and the ringing inside his ears came to a stop. His left calf stung, warm liquid seeping down its length to the point where he didn't need to look down to know it was blood. His right shoulder throbbed more than usual, but he could still move it in spite of the lingering numbness. It wasn't actually dislocated though the feeling was pretty much the same. There was also a strong knick in his lower back from the fall, yet that too would have to wait. Luckily, the small haystack he landed no saved him for cracking his skull open on the concrete below. A step or two to the left and he might not have been so fortunate.

He recalled chasing down the large black wolf. He recalled grabbing her arm and little else.

The booming noise created by the thunder masked his scream along with the sound of wood and rock breaking as the rooftop gave way.

"Why bother so for _one_?" Seras grunts in mild pain while raising herself up on her elbows a foot away. She too fell those 3 and 1/2 feet from the ceiling landing directly atop concrete shattering her right knee and twisting her ankle on impact. Not the best kind of impression to make, yet even when falling she had made sure he would be the one to come out of with the lesser injury of the two. The back of her head also throbbed, but the wound was already healing as was her leg. Cold rain seeped through the whole in the roof beating the floor as loudly as it the roof above. "Why should you care if I end them?" for a moment she struggles to stand up biting her lower lip hard as pain surges through her broken bones not yet fully healed. She forces a step limping before she's forced to stop and keep her right foot of the ground for a few seconds more.

Over three more hours since they last encounter and for the better part of an hour and a half he chased her over every roof, down every corridor he could find, the yard and then started all over again.

"Why bother chasing me at all?"

The prince struggles to stand with difficulty considering the throbbing in his lower back only grew. He holds in a whimper while trying to move, the muscles in his back pulling at the slightly dislodged, maybe even dislocated, lower lumbar vertebra. He tries to stand but the sudden stabbing sensation forces him to bend over forward in a rather awkward position and shut his eyes tight unable to stop himself from grunting in pain a second time. He couldn't afford to look week much less be weak and openly display said weakness directly in front of the enemy. It hurt a lot and to his rather great misfortune the pain wasn't one he was familiar. He'd had broken bones and more cuts and bruises than he liked to count dealt by either the sting of the whip or the hands of his fellow men. This pain was different. He seemed unable to straighten his back and every muscle in his lower back was tight with pain radiating throughout his entire back and down his legs to the point it made his knees weak and wobbly.

Shit he was screwed.

Yet he pushed on. He ignored the pain to the best of his ability and pushed on until he was able to stand up more or less properly on his own two feet beside the barrel of hay he'd fallen next to, but not without supporting his weight with hit right hand pressing on the wooden pillar adjacent to it. A few droplets of sweat trailed down his temples from the effort before moving down the column of his neck. His legs felt a hundred times heavier than the usual fatigue setting in after so many hours of constant exertion trying to outrun and catch a creature he didn't fully understand. A creature far stronger and faster than any of them. A creature thought to exist only in the urban legends and myths he heard of as a child, something he wasn't ready to admit existed. How could he? She controlled darkness and a wolf and a huge swarm of bats, not to mention was singlehandedly responsible for the entire night's slaughter. Yes, it was truly a great night to fuck up his back completely.

His eyes suffered yet fought to contain the pain raising his head to look upon this….this vampire. His sky blue focusing on the blood red of her irises. The all too familiar blood red, a fact he shouldn't and couldn't be thinking about at the moment. He doesn't know how to answer her question. Why was he chasing her? And doing it with such a passion? He held neither affection nor regard, nor the slightness interest in any of the lives lost that night, nor for those than might still come before the night is done. He did however, care for the well being of the only other person he gave a damn about. With neither home, siblings or relatives to speak of or care whether or not he yet drew breath or not, having just one…one…who cared made all the difference in the world. And though he would never publically admit it out lout that **one** made all the difference. There was someone he could more or less confide and talk to without the constant treat having to be careful of what he did or say. His sanity was already stretched so very thin on the edge of the breaking point where only one final push was all that was needed to fall into an even darker and deeper abyss that the one he already found in himself. Purgatory was a good day while hell dominated each and every day in between for the most part of six long, brutal years. There was no heave. Heaven was a lie and beautiful myth of the foolish. Something he desperately yearned for in the lowest moments of his existence, though that too was another fact he would never, not on his deathbed, admit to anyone. Something he couldn't help but yearn for in those early days of his imprisonment and the never-ending circle of attach on his mind, body and soul. A heaven that could stop the pain and the torment. A heaven he more than grew out of _wanting. _For in time he finally came to understand there was no heaven. That no such place or moment existed in the real world beyond the tolerance of both who and what he was. Tolerance he would have to help cultivate and grow by himself all alone to protect and shield himself while alone, abandoned and forgotten in the hellish abyss he was doomed to walk in. No one fought for him. No one cared. He was alone and would forever be _alone_ regardless of the many people surrounding him. Alone to walk through the darkness for as long as it took to find the edge of the cliff he fell…was pushed from. That or until he died. That had to be better.

"_Who are you?_" he forces the words to pass his lips without wavering, without his voice breaking from the throbbing discomfort in his lower back. He forced the tone of his voice to stay strong and firm and unwavering in the face of the unknown.

"The others saw you come after me. Saw you follow me." Seras replies bypassing the question he asked. "The others watched you fall." Her crimson irises held his entire attention with a commanding presence and by that alone he came to understand the silent meaning she was referring to. They saw, yet not one of them were there. "Where are they?" she lowers the tone of her voice allowing the sound to become a hushed whispers spoken as if in secret, concealed in secret meant only for certain ears to hear. And she was right. "They left you to die. How noble." She adds with a look in her eyes that either meant pity or success at her achievement, he couldn't quite tell. At the same time, he didn't have the proper time to decipher it. Shadows coiled and curled around his body catching him by surprise. And with his back thrown out, he didn't have the necessary reflexes to dodge when she _smiled_ that fraction of a second prior to his capture. The left corner of her mouth curled ever so slightly in what could only be described as mischief and still he stood blind towards its unfolding. What the hell was wrong with him not noticing something like that?

The wall felt cold and hard and heavy pressed against his injured back rubbing the fresh cuts along his shoulder blades raw along with that tightly coiled bundle of muscles in his lower back, the stones digging into the cuts and the bruise over his spine that got worse not a second later.

Rope like tendrils, whiffs of what seemed to be black smoke on closer inspection, wrapped themselves around his chest, abdomen and legs tying his ankles and knees together while forcing his arms to cross in front and over his chest. The position pushed his back in a straighter position, several cm more in the right direction, and something in his spine gave with a popping sound loud and clear forcing his head to tilt upward and his eyes to shut in sheer agony, his whole body to tense. Somehow, he managed to swallow most of the agonizing cry that should have normally passed his lips, yet only succeed too due the whiff of smoke that curled around his mouth like a proper gag meant to silence him. He couldn't stop. The pain was far, far too much. He cried out, however muffled a sound it was, he cried out when the second pop completely straighten his back to perfection a second later realigning the dislocated vertebra. The initial pain dulled so very briefly, flowing into a torrent of utter agony. He failed to hide the blatant display of weakness.

"I know it hurts." Seras softly breathes into his left ear pressing herself against him as her left hand moves up to cup his face and pull his head down, but he's far to gone at the moment to notice the _kindness_ in her voice. And just to make it a hundred times worse than the situation already was, his eyes glaze over and his vision gets impaired by the veil of a semiconscious pain induced state. His eyes rolled in the back of his head and his body descended into a wonderful numb state held up only by the ropes around him tightened squeezing his upper body more and forcing his arms closer to his chest and keep his legs in place while keeping his back perfectly straight and parallel to the stone wall. The position fueled the throbbing pain in his lower back, but dulled it at the same time. It hurt far less than the initial shock of having his spine realign and the throbbing immediately following his fall. Every possible nerve ending in his body awoke with that one 'pop' so that the sensation branched out to every cell and every fiber in his being.

Her words are apologetically when brushing the shell of his ear with her lips and then the underside of his jaw on the same side, a simple ghostly touch, but he neither felt it nor heard the words she spoke. "It will pass." She tells him and it's the first time he partially becomes aware of how close together they actually are to another and how her thumb was busy tracing tiny circles over his right cheek in an attempt to soothe the pain.

"Corpses left to rot in their graves. What mercy do they deserve?" the warmth of her breath on his skin eventually helped sober him up as did the unexpected touch of her protruding fangs along his pulse point. She sampled, if only briefly, for what she already knew lay beneath the salty taste of his warm skin. "When you and I both know there will be none to give?"

The sober he got, the cleared he could see she was right. Right on every account so far.

"Catch me if you can." Seras purrs issuing her challenge in a huskier and deeper tone of voice. Her thumb moves up from his cheek to his lips making the whiff of smoke that gagged him to disappear. "Or pin me down, whichever you prefer." His bottom lip his full and moist though wheatear chafed under the soft pad of her thumb making him wonder 'why' she would allow him to talk much less give him an opportunity to do so. "Catch me before the sun rises and I will let him live."

A price then.

"That would be fair, wouldn't it no?" Yet he continues to hold onto his silence ensuring a possible 'maybe'. "This game is no longer fun if you can't chase me. If you die."

"Why?" his voice comes out heavy and rough form the muffled scream when silence might have been the better reply, but she sparked his interest to the point of no return. "Why save me?"

"For the same reason you _alone_ are here." One human child fighting and chasing down a vampire while the rest hardly stood a chance and had no clue as to whom or what the murdered truly was. "You should have told them I'm the one hunting. Better yet, you _could_ have. You chose silence instead." Silence over their lives. "So why bother?" she pulls back with one last lingering breath upon his lips. The shadows retract all but two. The one around his abdomen that fully wraps itself around his lower back to sustain it while a second thinner one does the same to the injured shoulder freeing him of the numbness left by the knife. At the same time, Seras presses her left hand over his chest to further stabilize him. The beat of his heart was strong and pulsing under her palm under the layers of pure muscle and one thin, wet layer that was his white dress shirt clinging to his skin.

"Catch me or pin me down." She repeats smiling, grinning, showing of the tips of her fangs that peek from under her upper lip in the form of yet another silent challenge as she hold his gaze. "Do you consent?"

Did he? What if she was lying? What if it was all a rouse? And if he did, could he really consent to such a deal with the devil himself? Well, the closest he's ever come to a real span of the night that did not bare the flesh of another mortal human.

"If I did." so he decides to use her own words against her not yet deciding, still carefully sampling the waters. His tine careful and observant.

"The choice is yours." Seras replies removing her hand form his chest. "Whether he dies or not, is up to you. I could care less. I have nothing to loose, whereas you have _something_ to lose." She steps back moving her hands behind her back while doing so. "I will do nothing for the next half hour. After that…"

"What did you do to me?" he demands.

"As I said, you're no fun hurt and disabled. It will help you heal then fade on its own. Consider it a _courtesy_ amongst the dammed."

She winks with her right eye before fading back into the darkness from whence she came. Her smile a sly one as she purposely left the rest of her sentence unsaid. She had given her ultimatum leaving the ball in his court and his hands.

Freed and alone, the prince stays put in the same place in front of the stone wall, his thoughts circling around one other thought as his right hand rose behind his back to press against that one spot that had bothered him so much after his fall. The mist…no the fabric…it felt like soft, silken fabric against his hand, was warm further neutralizing the lingering pain and stiffness in his muscles.

Why heal him when she could have just as easily silence him? She didn't need him. That much was certain. She could kill and the others…more bodies to add to the toll of the death.

_This game is no longer fun if you can't chase me._

A game…

That word in itself worried him. Add it up to the rest of her sentence and it forms a most dangerous game indeed. A game void of any given set of rules to speak of. Rules that can, that may change, whenever she saw fit. _Humans_ could not stop her if they tried.

So again he asked himself, why give him the satisfaction? Why single him out and to what purpose? Surely it must be for more than just sport?

_Consider it a courtesy amongst the dammed._

More words to unsettle him. More words to fuel his curiosity, a curiosity stronger than his uneasiness towards the unknown variable she represented. There is clarity in her method of madness. Perhaps far more than meets the eye.

Either way, he _wanted_ the challenge, whether it brought him death or not.

For she was right when she said he had nothing to lose.

**.**

**.**

To be continued….


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 36**

I'm going to have to postpone chapter 37 for two weeks from now since I've decided to change the ending to it as well as most of chapter 38. I have a new idea I'd like to explore, but I won't have much time to work on it this week.

Warning for violence in this chapter since convincing the young prince won't be an easy task for Seras to do.

Let's get started.

Chapter 36

**.**

**.**

The sun is rising.

Golden streaks of light slowly emerged from the heavy blanket of dark grey clouds, the storm having finally come to an end no more than a few minutes ago. The ground was wet and muddy coated in a fresh layer of mud and as drop of rain water continued to drip from the roof and shingles of the buildings. The air clean and fresh dulling the fragrance of spilled blood emanating from within the compound.

A new day broke over the horizon lying witness to the trace of death and slaughter and bloodshed the moon had left behind.

His legs could carry him no longer. He was chilled to the bone, to the point where he long since lost all feeling in his arms and legs, fingers and tows especially. Every breath was a cold and ruthless agony with the cough he had trouble shaking off whenever he tried running again. His lips and skin were deathly pale from the cold while his headache grew exponentially over the course of the last few hours from a mild discomfort to an intense throbbing horrible intensified by the pounding rhythm of his heartbeat.

The sun was rising and he had failed.

The sun was rising and he was lost staring up at the descending rays of sunlight falling form the sky.

The sun was lost and so was he…

His back hit the wall hard.

"I will not say this again!" his face was smashed against the stone by the elbow pressing deep into the base of his skull. "Inside now!" he's then roughly pulled back and then thrown in passed the threshold of the door. "Get them it!" the warden turns his attention towards one of his high ranking guards with wrath in his eyes. "**Now**!" fury ablaze in his irises. "Lock them in. If I see just one…" his words held a savage promise for any who dared defy. His gaze briefly and purposely drifted towards the young raven haired teen in a way, the same way as it always did, when facing his rebellious nature. At the same time, it was so much more than that altogether.

His eyes fall on that of the prince once more, both men starring at each other with mutual hatred. "Take him." The man orders to which one of the soldiers complies by grabbing hold of the prince's left upper arm and dragging him along, though the latter struggled as soon as the man's fingers curled around his limb. "You'll die." He whispers.

They would all die.

The sun was rising and he had yet to catch or pin his vampire down.

The sun was rising and death was coming.

So why did he find himself caring now that it was finally happening? Why speak up at all? Why bother?

He searched, but never found his friend. He could not find Ian after being separated from him during the fire, after he fell though the roof. He looked as if swallowed by the earth whole.

"You'll all fucking die! Slaughtered! _**She'll **_slaughter you all!" he shouts while being dragged only to receive a fist to the jaw for his troubles. His words going both unnoticed and unwanted.

The truly amusing thing to all this irony wad the fact that he had not felt this _reminder_ of desperation in a long time, a sentiment not felt or shared or for many years now. He was fully helpless, something he vowed never to experience or suffer again. Never to let anyone else control his life in such a way and have power over him. He was helpless and it _scared_ him.

"Lock him up." The warden orders regardless. "And when we find her, we'll slaughter her as well." They were signing their own death warrant without the smallest clue as to what they were doing. He could have shouted and protested more, but it wasn't worth it. So when he was grabbed by the arm a second time, the prince no longer struggled and followed through with the order though the hatred in his eyes did not falter.

_All of them will die._

"All of you will die." He spits the blood accumulated in his mouth from the punch. And then his lips curl into a smirk. Ironic and sarcastic laughter following in its wake. "The _**undead**_ to kill you all!"

"Get him in!"

"She'll slaughter you all!"

"Shut him…" his voice grew silent the second something took hold of his shoulder and spun him around only to come face to face with said vampire. All three men accompanying him fall death by his feet with retracting black whiffs of smoke distancing themselves from their bodies.

"_Evening_." Seras purrs showing of her fangs without hesitation while her eyes glowed accentuating the red of her irises. And for her one step forward he takes one step back, fear rising inside his heart with each passing beat. The bottom hem of her coat came alive with swirling black shadows dancing all around her as she moved closer and closer while he stepped back once, then twice, then three times.

"Such fear for one so in control." She grins wider as her fangs lengthen, nails extending into claws as she flexes her fingers. "Did you like the show?" she then begins to encircle him sparring but one look towards the teen left forgotten with no one to physically remove him from the premises any longer. "I only took a _bite_." She purposely jerks her upper body forward in a quick mock biting attempt that startles the man causing him to trip backwards and land on his ass. Seras chuckles even harder without resuming her pacing. The sound of her heals louder and louder…

"Between you and me," she leans down moving both her arms behind her back. "He has more balls than you ever will. A shame, how weak and pathetic you are." She then straightens her back casting him one final look while gathering her shadows behind her. She expected more.

"Now then, let us…." The flick of a blade cutting through the air cuts her words short when the same blade is pressed up against her throat from behind. The hand holding it barely touching her right shoulder while a firm chest carefully pressed into her back close enough to be felt, but not close enough to lean into her. The scent of his own blood impregnated into his shirt easily reached her nose.

He didn't say a word, but he just as well as might have.

_I got you. _

And her smile grew wider, eyes darker and narrowing, fangs glistening as they caught the light.

"If you want him alive, you'd better do more than that." She taunts to which the knife is pressed a bit harder against her skin drawing the faintest trace of crimson. A gesture perceived by the warden as an effort to spare his life, at least until the prince spoke again.

"You can have him." Isolated and alone, he relished in the silence death would bring.

All of them will die. So be it then. Let them die. Let them all fucking die.

"A shame for those lovely green eyes then." And of course, the warden's eyes were nothing close to green. The sound then turned into light and amused chuckling, the sound free and happy as Seras took the time to enjoy tormenting the young prince. "Besides," she easily breaks free of his hold turning into mist that vanished from his sight only to reappear behind the warden without him noticing a thing. A whiff of smoke encircles his head one second and he drops unconscious then next. "You didn't _catch me…_" She purrs and a whiff brushes against the shell of his right ear in a feather like touch. More whiffs of inky black smoke surround his feet while hovering several cm off the ground in a mist like fashion. And just when he thought he a small amount of control over the situation, her smile turns utterly mischievous and her eyes glow a bright red.

Darkness surrounds him completely and he suddenly finds himself back in his room of all places. The door locked as soon as he tried it and the ever present echo of her laughter growing brighter the more trapped he discovered himself to be within the confinement of what should have been his sanctuary.

_Thud…thud…thud…thud…thus…thud…_

The sound steady and constant when it should have risen accordingly to the situation he found himself in. Trapped and alone while death hung above his head ready to strike at any given time.

"Come out!" the prince begins to shout as his gaze hardens. He would not be made a fool by this…this _thing…vampire_….a second time. No sooner the thought races through his mind the mist strikes and he's pulled back not at all softly till his back hits the closet wall to the door forcing all trace of air from his lungs.

"So silent," silken golden hair brushes over his left cheek along with warm, soothing breath trickling the shell of his ear. A silent heart to the end. No fear.

_Thud...…thud…thud…thud…. _

She leans in closer burying her nose into the long mass of his raven hair. Though wet, lacking volume and saturated in the scent of freshly fallen rain it still carried _his_ scent. And it was far more comforting than she ever would have thought to begin with. His blood was hot and coursing through his veins and so ripe for the taking. So close…

"The sound of your heart." Nothing stops her from carefully slipping into his mind to bring that very sound to life until it rang out between them to fill the otherwise empty room. The sound strong and heavy echoing off the walls.

_**Thud…..thud..…thud…..thud…..**_

Seras chuckles as soon as the sound reaches out and the smallest of gasps involuntarily passes the teen's lips, his eyes widening just a fraction more not only because of the sound itself, but by the touch of her fangs suddenly grazing over the column of his throat just under his jaw line. "Still so silent in the face of _fear_ you struggle to control."

The prince's shoulders immediately tense as soon as her words come to life, one word in particular, but the bindings wrapped around him held him in place with nowhere to run or hide. And just like before, one silenced him by covering his mouth like a piece of rag forcing the words to die on the tip of his tongue so that only a muffled protest broke through. His hands and legs were bound yet again.

"Oh, but you do." Seras chuckles running her fangs over his skin a second time. "There is more to fear than touch of flesh or metal searing ones skin." her breath felt cold grazing over the patch of moist skin while her body felt surprisingly warm and soft pressed up so closely against his. There wasn't much of an opportunity for this sort of observation the last time they'd been so close together with everything that happened in those few minutes of violent interaction shared during the icy cold rainstorm.

"Your heartbeat's rising." She purrs and to his shame he can't help the small shudder that passes through his body racing down spine, his chin involuntarily moving up by just a fraction of an inch as if baring his throat out to her. Blue eyes focused solely and intently on the top of her head and the shining gold of her hair so unlikely different that the rest of the world around him.

_**Thud…thud…thud…thud…thud…thud… **_

It wasn't a big change in tempo, but the simple fact that it existed already proved her point to a certain degree. Maybe it was fear, in a strange sort of way, but not the kind the he had grown up with and understood. Most of all…

"You keep forgetting I'm _undead_." The words are hoarsely whispered into his ear, the touch her lips no longer as light on his skin and the shell of his ear. "I can hear you, even when silent." she briefly pauses bringing her left hand up to touch his right cheek in a simple gesture that's immediately rejected the second her fingers briefly touch his skin. He tries to pull away but only ended up hitting the side of her head while jerking from her touch.

"All of them will die." Yet she is undeterred and her hand cups his face regardless holding him steady. "Or have you forgotten?" the prince resists the urge to speak up though his eyes narrow in reply. "Corpses left in their grave to rot. Why should you care if I stomp the life out of them?"

_He didn't._ _He shouldn't._

And the thought more than justified his silent reply over and over again. Both the reasons why and why not.

_He didn't. He wouldn't have. He Didn't._

"He would have." Seras tells him almost ready to allow the band across his mouth to disappear giving him back his voice. Instead she merely brushes the pad of her thumb over his lips before speaking further. "The best lies are the ones we tell ourselves, _my prince_." For she took the time to look inside that boy's mind and see the turmoil he yet suffered from. He would have, if only to save his own life. He would have, and then never think about it again.

The gag fades as she pulls away taking the warmth that barely had a chance to latch onto his ice cold skin and shirt.

"Let go of me." He demands with a clear mind no longer feeling as intimidated by her as he'd been just a hours ago. Somehow, though he couldn't quite explain why. Whatever danger had lurked around the corners ready to pounce no longer seemed such an impossible wall to breech.

Seras smiles peering over her left shoulder as she walks away. "I'm not keeping you trapped." And true to her words the shadows released fading into soft black mist, but he was so caught up in the sound of his own heartbeat still echoing around them he didn't notice. But with the room being so small there wasn't much space for her to cross. "Would you prefer watching or just hearing the rest die?" she asks him with a heavy layer of sarcasm coating her every word.

"Don't touch him!" she hears him move and felt the fury in his mind long before he shouts quick to grab her left upper arm, turn her around and shove her back against the opposite wall of the room. They'd taken his swords and the knife was regrettably still hidden in his right boot. He didn't have time to reach for it and hold her at the same time. "You will not…"

"He would have." She protests still holding to her point of view.

"He didn't!" the prince shouts no longer giving a damn as to what it could cost him. He grabs the knife. "And if he did then he would have lived with the shame!" and he points the tip towards her.

"Why should you care?" that question again. Why did she have to ask that time and time again?

"Leave him be." Just leave him be. Stop it. Stop this.

"Make me." She purrs while quickly moving forward. She grabs his wrist and forced him to press the tip directly over her heart a second time. Just like the night before. Everything took place just like the night before. She was offering a challenge and opportunity he was surely a fool not to take. He regrettably missed his target last time hitting only her side instead of her heart. A mistake he wasn't about to make again.

"Make me and I'll stop."

"If I have to cut out your heart I will." The prince solemnly promises putting and end to his own self doubt. Anyone but _him_. He would not bare it a second time. There wasn't anything else the world could strip him off. Whether his life, his bloodline, his country and people….all of them empty promises meant to be broken one day. Shattered and taken and utterly ripped from his hands without a second thought. One friend already dead while trying to help protect his life. One friend already sacrificed for his salvation helping him cope, helping him live and fight on. Survive with pride and dignity intact. His heart could not bare another. Not again.

_**Please….**_

His blue eyes plead so forcefully Seras found it increasingly difficult to break a faith so beautifully strong. Every bit of his suffering and fear was buried under the threat of loosing what he _loved_, anger and will and strength.

"Do it." She urges him knowing he would. She would too.

"_Why?"_ he finally asks her 'why'. "Tell me why? Because I will hunt you down for the rest of your life otherwise." He leans in while saying this as to bring his face closer to hers while pressing the knife into the leather bodice of the corset she wore over the white dress shirt, the resolve and strength in his eyes growing by the second. Time seemed to slow down to a snail's pace as the two stare into each other's eyes. He breathes heavily and strongly against her slightly parted lips, water still trickling down the loose strands of his hair from the storm still raging on outside the cell with new day.

"Only once." She promises bringing her left hand up to his wrist.

"Who are you?"

She offers fanged grin. "I walk the night, you already know that." She silently asks to remove the blade from her throat which he does despite his better judgment. "This blade went though me, yet I still take breath, do I not?"

He's left to watch in both wonder and morbid fascination as the cut made by the blade heals over without as much as a single scar or blemish to mar the otherwise perfectly pale skin beneath her elegant jaw.

"I don't." she corrects further enforcing that look of pure puzzlement back on his face while replying to a question he never got to ask. "Because both of us are dead, yet only your heart still beats." At this she looks deeply and solemnly into his eyes. "Ask me what you really want to ask."

Vlad meets her gaze for the better part of a whole minute before his lips part to reveal his concussion and a bit more wonder than actual fear.

_"Strigoi…" _he hesitantly utters the that even right?

Seras smirks wide so that her fags lengthen to full extent and her irises turn a darker, deeper shade of blood red and she leans back away from him releasing him completely.

"_**Nosferatu**_." The candle in the room flickers in the wake of her words and as it dies so does the room itself darkens considerably for the span of a few log and agonizing seconds. The prince swallows hard suddenly feeling his hands clammy and sweaty as he flexes his fingers over the wooden handle of the knife.

His heart threatened to race faster, but he took control of it and his breathing before it got out of hand. 'Nosferatu' deemed fear and he would not have it rule over him. He was more than aware of both the stories and the legends passed down by his people surrounding those legends. People who tremble in fear at the mere mention of the word 'undead'.

"I won't harm you." She tells him in a relatively calm manner and understanding tone. He didn't realize he spaced out for a good few moments until the sound of her voice awoke him. "You challenge death when you should run from it instead. I respect that. I was taught to respect and value strength and you stood against me." She smiles offering him a kind smile this time around and for a moment lowers gaze as if realizing the truth of her words. She should not mention _that_ part of her life. Not to him. "I have never asked _a human_ to be my master."

She hadn't asked because no one would ever be worthy of filling her master's shoes. She had never asked because there would always ever be one master in her life. Not even Integra. No. For she was his master's master for that very reason alone. Each to his own. Filling a void no one else was capable of and such shoes were not meant to be replaced by those unworthy.

"You could be, but you fear."

"I fear nothing." Another self employed and conditioned response. One of countless many, one to be expected. His eyes hardened and with them the walls went up all around him. Always struggling to protect him.

"You've learned not to fear." She corrects him hoping to crack that wall back down where it belonged, in rubbles. "But you still fear me. You fear what you don't understand."

"_I fear nothing_." He repeats though his hands were still clammy and his pulse broken free of his iron clad control. He still had to swallow hard with the effort of holding that gaze. An act of defiance towards which the vampires hiss harshly.

"_**You fear everything**_**!**" the single candle flickers again and her irises darken tenfold. He suddenly felt so utterly small looking into her blood red eyes. A chill he couldn't control went down his spine making him fell so amazingly helpless. "I can see your fears. I can see them far better than you can hide them."

/I can read your thoughts./

"_What_?" his eyes grow wide with the surprised gasp that passed his lips hearing her words so utterly clear inside his head without seeing her lips move accordingly in front of his eyes. Was that meek and pathetic excuse of a voice truly his? It couldn't be, and yet sounded so much like it. A small and meek, breathless 'what?' that gave everything away. All the surprise and wonder, the uncertainty, the desire to know in spite of all the many alarm bells screaming at the top of their lungs inside his mind not to. In spite of the bare survival instinct shouting at him to get away and pick up the ball he so foolishly discarded. There was such innocence in that poor attempt of keeping his words safe from harm.

He was more than capable taking care of loose ends, of people attempting at his life and trying to control him. He needed no one to protect him. Did she think to save him? He turns to her enraged, in his eyes a blazing fire ready to strike and...

"Do not be so utterly pathetic as to presume to…"

A single finger was all it took to silence him. She touched his forehead with her index finger showing him exactly what she meant. Showing him exactly what he feared most. And she remained still through it all and said nothing even after removing her finger from atop his forehead. She held his gaze seeing how badly those very images damaged his psyche. Images no other person had ever come close to guessing much less seeing. His mind went utterly blank, so much in fact that the utter silence momentarily gave Seras real reason for concern as to his fragile mental state. He wasn't moving or thinking and his eyes simply stared forward empty and shallow as if looking over a banal sheet of paper trying to understand what the author actually intended to portray in his painting beneath all that white. The strain was so much she could practically hear the strings breaking all around him.

"_**Fear**_, _like you've never experienced before_." Her eyes glowed and her fanged smile turned into a sinfully devilish grin as he foolishly signed away his life to the devil with just one word and the moment of weakness shown. He suddenly finds it even harder to breathe and his heart feels as if close to the breaking point bursting out of his chest. The pounding loud and violent in his ears as his eyes blinked once only to look at that coldhearted grin.

"Stay away from me." His voice breaks when speaking sounding even weaker than before when uttering that fragile 'what'. His first instinct is to back away, but his feet are glued on the spot unable to heed his command. He needed to run. He wanted to run. Run from her and run from those accursed images. He wanted….

"You didn't answer." Once more he's forced to watch as the second, deeper cut made by the blade heals over much like the first. Her skin flawless and perfect, flesh that felt exactly as soft and tender as it looked if not more. And curse him for even taking the time to notice in the first place.

She was beautiful. As horribly and unimaginably frightening as she was standing there in front of him she was indeed a grand sight to behold.

"Ask what you really want to ask me." She smiles so sweetly, silence falling in between them for a several minutes more. Night walker? Strigoi? Vampire? Blood drinker, night walker, the bats, the darkness….the wolf….all of these….

He recalled tales of such creatures. Of silver harming them, but was any of it true? There were far too many questions instead of answers. Was she even real? Are you ever real? Should he even ask? If he was ever going to learn 'why?' and' what?' then this was it. This moment here.

"What's your name?" yet off all these life altering questions that was what came out of his mouth along with a new carefully revealed emotion on his face: curiosity. Seras silently watches him for a moment longer before slightly tilting her head to the right in a very cat like fashion and then assuming a completely relaxed position in front of him.

"Childe will do." This time her lips offer a far different smile, lighter and friendlier.

"You have not given me yours, why should I give you mine?" another minute passes before the prince lowers his gaze if only briefly considering her words. The weapon however, he's not so foolish to relinquish that just yet. He merely lowers his arm in a sign of mutual respect, but holds onto it nonetheless. It she proves herself not be harmful, then why strive for it himself?

"Agreed." A rather strange concept considering the circumstances. He's almost tempted to drop the knife at this point, but reconsiders. Not yet. Not just yet.

"You would trust death so easily?" she all but mocks the brief show of faith testing the waters further. He was giving in a bit too easily especially considering what she just finished forcing him to witness once more. And though she more than cherished that, she had to push him further.

"I trust myself." The prince replies with a conceding grin of his bringing his hand holding the knife up to his face. "I can always find a better weapon."

"You would die by my hand long before I die by yours little prince."

"You presume too much."

"I presume enough." She pauses grinning wider. "_Master_." Her master was never one to accept his privacy invaded or look at those who cowered in fear a second time. "But your thoughts are loud when you loose yourself to anger." She could have said fear or weariness, but chose anger instead.

"**I am not your master!**" And she was right. The prince reacted in kind forgetting all about the shadows of his past. The mere concept of owning someone against their will disturbed him to the point of nausea. The concept of 'master' reeked of false trust, loyalty and acceptance. A lovely blanket atop the disgusting label of slave-owner. There fore, his reply was immediate and forthcoming without restrain or false pretence the second she dared to utter the word. What the hell did she know of anger? His anger to be precise.

"I know only what I see. And what you choose to reveal, willing or not." She easily reads in between the line not necessarily needing to read his thoughts forehand.

"Then tell me why you haven't killed me yet?"

"Because you're interesting." She offers a cocky smile bringing her chin up just a little and exposing the tips of her fangs in all their glory as a small reminder. "Or have you forgotten already thrusting that knife into me? You've already tried and you've already failed. So I ask again, would you like to be?"

She easily sees through the wall he's trying to protect himself with. Master also meant false desire in having to do anything with the person in question. It meant expendability in the way of worth.

'Would you like to be?' spoken softly and asked with a careful smile as her hands settle behind her back and her eyes lock upon him expectantly, shyly even. A question that takes him by completely surprise though he's reluctant to show it and so he keeps his expression stern and his face void of any incriminating emotion that could give him away if not careful.

"No." _Maybe_. A firm and relentless 'no' yet one that did not give up on the hidden concept of 'maybe', a maybe that spoke of not completely denying the possibility of being interested in getting closer to a creature of darkness such as herself.

"As you wish." She smiles widely in a manner that had him raise an eyebrow in return as if seeing right through his lie and uncertainty. "It was only a question."

"You are not one for such _questions_." still blunt and still to the point with emotionless eyes focused on her every move analyzing every detail of his behavior, body language and words. "Not after what you've done."

"And what did I do?" she challenges back to which he finally sketches a narrowed smile and his posture indivertibly relaxes more close to mimicking her own.

"All of them will die." He says it repeating both her earlier words and mimicking her tone of voice entirely.

"All of them deserved to die." She corrects him once again.

"For you to judge? And decide?"

"For me to deliver." The same harsh and emotionless tone from a few hours ago reached his ears promoting him to drop whatever he was thinking and drop whatever remained of his defenses while facing her.

"God's toy for revenge." It's his grin that turns mischievously this time around while the words are purred in a sarcastic and mocking tone she hadn't expected.

"Or the devil's." she grins. "It makes no difference to me. I only did what _we humans_ are so good at, _death and destruction_."

"You're not human."

"You keep forgetting I used to be one _master_." She pushes on his anger a bit more hoping to reveal what he was still struggling to keep locked up behind the thick walls surrounding him. "I cannot die as easily as you might think. Or would you rather try again?" she quickly makes a grab for his wrist forcing the hand holding the knife to push forward against her chest, the tip drawing a bead of blood from between her breasts. Her hold on his flesh bruising and challenging, challenging him one final time.

"_Why_?" why choose death at all? One of the many questions he yet failed to understand. Did she mean to die? Did she _wish_ to die? Why force his hand in such a way?

Unfortunately, he never gets to ask any of those questions. Seras takes but a brief second prior to acting and plunges the knife in the middle of her chest without a sound and without letting go of his wrist. What she was doing was both dangerous as well as reckless for she was still weak, tired and blood depraved. It hurt beyond compare much like the first time, yet just like then she stood her ground facing the pain head on and the danger of finally ending her immortal life by her own hand head on.

She sucked in a breath never breaking eye contact, face emotionless and focused. Warm crimson seeped from the wound staining her white blouse as well his fingers upon the handle.

"You have no heart so it's useless." It only takes a second for the look in his eyes to turn deadly and all reason and common sense to leave him. She doesn't stand a chance for he pulls the knife several cm out of her while he speaks and twists it in the process offering her **death**, accepting the challenge she so willingly laid out at his feet. At the same time his left arm comes up behind her encircling her waist and pulling her flush against him. And with the weapon out of her chest she has only a moment's grace from the excruciating pain before the tip is pressed against the back of her head at the base of her skull.

It was dumb and foolish and bold. If she died he would be free of her, but if she lived he would be the one to surely die in the end. One simply does not taunt death without suffering the consequences.

"Yet none have struck you here, have they?" the tip sinks in at a sharp angle instead of a directly perpendicular blow which would have caused immediate death from touching the brainstem. "Have they?"

"_No_." Seras replies keeping her crimson locked with his blue. The prince sketches a grin and she can't help but feel unnerved by it and intimidated. She knew that look far better than anyone alive or dead. It only took a moment for the situation to fall completely out of her hands and land most precariously into his. She foolishly offered him power over her attempting to look superior and it backfired beautifully.

"You **never** give up such secrets!" he shouts in her face at the implication her words acknowledge. "You fool. You have everything to hide. _**Everything**_!" He hisses the words in anger at hearing such an imprudent admission. He no longer pushes the knife into the back of her throat, but brings it around the side of her neck cutting away at her skin severing the major blood vessels on the left side. Crimson gushed out in a manner he wasn't expecting. It gushed just like in any other living victim, the liquid warm and the torrent surprisingly strong when sticking him directly in the face and chest staining his skin and clothing red.

Why won't she not die? Any other normal human would long since be dead.

"I have..." she pauses a new struggling with the words. So she just sighs momentarily closing her eyes. "No heart..." She starts telling him only to have the air cut out of her lungs by his hard grip on her throat, relentless and forceful as he acted swiftly while grabbing her and forcing her chin up with his thumb to meet his gaze.

"Then you a far bigger fool than I thought." He harshly says growing angrier when she fails to give into the pain and the cold embrace the death he was willing to offer. Why does she not look away? Why was there such understanding it the look she was giving? Accepting and forgiving?

"_**Who are you?**_" he screams at her beyond furious at this point for her blatant display of defiance. She was being quite. And whether the anger was towards her or his own inability to understand made little difference at this point. He wanted answers and he was demanding them here and now. Who was she? Who was she really? "Or I **will** see an end to your life…" Once more he is silenced. This time by no words at all and only her razing her chin up and leaning forward into the body of the blade by her own accord making the sharp edge sink into her flesh more cutting open the front of her throat as well just over her Adam's apple.

"I am undead."

All manor of patience is lost and the young woman is pushed backward by the fierce grip around her throat till her back hits the smooth clean surface of the dark desk behind her. The grip of his hand was merciless and with his elbow pressing against her shoulder he used all of his weight to crush her to the desks and hold her in place. The knife itself no longer disfigured her throat, but was making quick work of the front of her black leather corset loosening it enough to free her torso before cutting away at the fabric of her shirt exposing the middle of her chest along with the inner swells of her breasts. No wound marred her skin, nor a scar or speck of blood to blemish the otherwise perfect white surface of her milky white skin where the knife had penetrated barely moments ago. Looking as if nothing happened at all.

"Answer me!" he shouts with no result as she continued to stay silent. "I will not," the blade is pressed back over her chest emphasizing each new word to follow. "** .again**."

In the end the threat is too serious and the pain too much too handle. The blade is forced back into her skin too slowly and the pain stretched out to further torture her. Her heart had barely healed from the first blow, it was highly sensitive. Seras involuntarily closes her eyes inhaling sharply gripping his right wrist to the point of bruising while the other quickly moved to the hand squeezing her throat.

"And so the demon bleeds." He twists the knife in what could only be described as sick, morbid pleasure. "Just like any other mortal." He jerks the blade out of her halfway only to trust it back in the exact same place twisting it a second time. She cries out squeezing his wrist even harder successfully fissuring the bones underneath without completely breaking them. It hurt like hell, but his grip remained unmoving.

"Crush my hand!" He orders provoking her further by using more of his weight on top of her as well as the knife tilting the handle at an upward angle to make the edge of the blade slice through her body at a sharp angle, slow and torturous. Her eyelids struggle to stay open as rage filled demonically looking blue orbs starred her down. She wept silently in both pain and defiance.

Damn her for not looking away. His grip on her throat increased and he was close to breaking her.

Damn her.

Damn her for not looking away. For not pleading for her life like all the others beyond that room.

Damn her for everything.

"Who I am," she finally breathes a few weakly spoken words. "Doesn't…mat…ter…"

"Tell me!" he would wait no longer. The knife seemed useless and is thus quickly discarder, ripped from her bleeding chest, but instead of being throw callously across the room to cling loudly as it hit the floor, he trusts it back into her ribcage just over her last rib, the tip succeeding in piercing her left ventricle. Seras cries once more while the blade works without mercy against her skin forcing crimson tears to leak from the corner of her eyes once her eyelids drop. The twin rivulets trickle down her cheeks, though the amount is nothing compared to the blood already pooling under her chest and back. The blood seeping out of all those harsly inflicted wounds and beginning to drip form the side of the desk.

And somehow, without even beginning to understand it, the sight alone tore through all of that rage like a tiny cut in a long sheet of paper. It parted the veil of anger covering his eyes and for a brief moment he actually _saw_ her.

"The dead…don't speak…" Seras whispers attempting to breathe and soothe some of the pain away. And as she does so she defiantly tilts her head back a little raising her chin in front of him. His grip tightens by a fraction alone in a manner that helps emphasize his words. He had learned to read people far better than anyone else and it pleased him to find the ripped and open book before him still baring one last and carefully hidden secret. And so he smiles widely baring his own teeth in great amusement, the tips of his somewhat longer than normal canines looking especially demonic. Almost like a vampire in his own right. The look in his blues eyes mocking as though putting her down and yet, deep inside, he left a sense of pride at the deep level of trust and devotion the small woman in front of him was showing. It was truly beautiful. Beyond her mind and her body which he showed no mercy towards, what could there still be that he had not yet taken advantage of? Her loyalty, pride, her smiling face. So pleasing to see and so eager to please. So willing to stay by the side of someone so horribly undeserving. To be near and to acknowledge touch.

And so he wondered if her answer would not disappoint.

"Tell me." he leans in till his face hovers directly over hers and several inky black strands of hair fall on either side of her head. He offers a second of peace before ripping the knife out of her for good and throwing it to the floor as he should have already done so minutes ago. The sound of clinging metal loud enough to stomp out the muffled cries fought to be kept in by biting down on her lower lip.

Guilt…

Guilt somehow found him striking from behind in a traitorous blow he didn't see coming. His left eye involuntarily twitched in annoyance. What was she doing?

Guilt…

A sentiment never before manifested in spite of all the pleading, begging and screaming his victims had done. Yet she's not like them. She neither begs, nor fights him. She's just standing there. Looking at him..._like that_…

He's forced to breathe in deep to calm his nerves. No one's done this to him, no one. He doesn't release her and his grip never falters form around her throat though he brings his other hand, fingers soaked in her blood, up to cup the left side of her face.

"Who," he briefly pauses lowering the tone of his voice in such a manner not one person had ever denied him the answer he sought. "Do you protect?" And why? So valiantly? So faithfully? As so much blood continued to coat the surface of his desk and drip down from the edge.

"Honor bound…" she tells him smiling weakly. In her minds eyes there was only a little boy warning her to stay away.

_Stay away from me Seras._

"To a promise…."

_Promise you won't come._

"Made in blood…"

_And I won't ever know you._

_If that is what you wish master. _

She had promised biting her lower lip drawing blood. For it was all she could do not to say she wouldn't. He wouldn't know her if that was what he wanted. A promise made to stay silent. Now and always.

"Then die in silence." The prince harshly tells her spitting the words out in anger that for the first time seemed to be directed at his own person and not her. He turns leaving her to her fate in a pool of her own blood.

_**All of them will die…..**_

He finally understood.

And the door to his chamber was somehow open once more.

**.**

**.**

To be continued….


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 37**

Ok, I have to apologies for being late with this chapter, but I can't keep the weekly schedule of posting chapters as promised. I review every single one before the final print and I always find little things to change or add. So between that and my job and studying...I'm swamped as I'm sure I've mentioned before. I know it sucks and I'm tired of repeating it myself, but that's just how the situation is. I have no idea when I'll finish this story completely, but I'll do my best.

So for now posting will be done every two weeks. I apologies again. And thanks for understanding.

**.**

Chapter 37

Almost a week day to this day.

Six full days of utter silence from a voice and presence he didn't think to miss before. The pair of crimson eyes unwillingly haunted the depths of his mind and he would sometimes find himself starring up at the moon for no apparent reason in a way that was unfamiliar to him. For a long time now he found solace in the gentle giant floating high above in the night sky illumining the darkness of the world, but now he couldn't help himself from picturing the shape of those blood colored orbs staring at him in the way she had with her heart torn apart and in the palm of his hand. It was unnatural and unnerving at the same time. He was used to the sight of such a death as well as the begging and pleading…but she had stood her ground remaining _quite_ and _faithful_ to her cause.

And in that moment of clarity he unwillingly found himself in yet another position he never though possible: jealous of such unwavering faith. Even if it was to a mere promise, something so easily broken.

_Honor bound to a promise made in blood._

The words from his ever recurring nightmares of lust and passion and a face he once so desperately wanted to see. Now that he had…all he wanted to do was forget.

_Would you like to be?_

Damn it. And damn her to the pits of hell and back. Why couldn't he get her out of his head? Why couldn't he free himself of her words and her voice and that god forsaken fanged grin like any other bad memory accumulated over time? Why must she linger still? Linger and torment him with that forsaken smirk and those blasted red eyes that…

"Damn it." He curses out loud into the silence of the night atop the rooftop of the bellower within the complex throwing away the half eaten golden apple in his right hand. His back was leaning against a partially warm chimney embedded in the structure of the tower to warm the building below and had both his legs drawn close to his chest. The light bounced of his raven hair just like it did over the golden coat of the horse trotting in the courtyard below, its mane swaying as he trotted down in the yard. The light breeze caressed his face soothingly as he briefly closed his eyes enjoying the silence.

Why was he doing this? Sitting atop a stupid tower loosing thoughts because of a mere girl? He sighs loudly dropping his head atop his knees while both his shoulders sagged defeated knowing there was no escape.

Why the hell was he even dreaming, fantasizing, about a fucking vampire?

And worse, dreaming of fucking a vampire? What the hell was wrong with him?

This was so not happening, not ever. He wasn't that fucked up in the head after all those years of torment and violent abuse.

It wasn't going to happen. It wasn't.

_As you wish._

And still the voice haunted him. Damn it.

He really hated her. It needed to stop. All this had to stop right now before he lost whatever was left of his fragile, damaged mind. Fuck it and fuck her.

"Shit!" he curses again when that stupid smile and those large crimson eyes find their way back into his mind. Thoughts that in turn generate a whole different image of her altogether. Damn dream and damn vampire fucking with his mind. It was six days ago damn it. Couldn't he just forget and be done with it already?

"Stop it. Just stop." He grips his head hard pulling at his hair with all his might hoping the pain would ease the transition back into silence.

Regrettably, it doesn't.

Of course it doesn't. Why the hell should it? The one time he wished for pain and it held nothing of value for him. Fucking hair and fucking vampire and his god damned useless hair. It was all just so fucked up.

Couldn't he have silence? Just one moment of silence and utter isolation he was comfortable within. Couldn't he have one moment of god damned peace like it used to be before _she_ started seeping into his mind like a sickness? Now everything had to revolve around things she said or did and how amazingly incredible that show of power had been. Brilliant and flawless and for once he hadn't been the one fighting the instinct to cower in fear at the sight of those retched men or the sound of their voice.

He had felt…_safe_…amongst all that raw carnage. Utterly and completely safe as if knowing she would never harm despite her earlier threats to do so. He felt as though capable of trusting her and that unnerved him the most.

"Ahhhh!" he shouts gripping at his hair tighter succeeding in ripping a few strands from their roots while doing so. Not that it was helping. Not at all.

And the silence he wished for….it was lacking.

Damn it.

_Honor bound to a promise made in blood_.

He was truly beginning to hate those words. First they mocked him in his dreams with a sultry, sensual tone that left him wanting for more than a fantasy. That left him wishing for something as real as that forsaken dream had been. It had been just a dream, and yet he never found himself capable of completely dismissing it as nothing more than a fairytale. Maybe once, just once, it might grant him the illusion of reality even if it turned out to be the cruelest lie of his life.

Now, the second time hearing those words, they'd been forced out of her mouth by his hands upon her. By the weapon he himself wielded to cut her heart open. And with blood and death brought over her head by his own head, she still stayed true to herself and never lied.

A realization that forced another hard wave of guilt to settle atop and burden his already straining shoulders.

He left her there. He just left her.

He turned away for what had surely must have been a few minutes only slamming the door to his room loudly in anger whilst doing so. Yet when he turned back all that remained had been blood. A pool of fresh blood that hadn't turned black or coagulated despite the hours that then passed until the sun went down completely and the moon slowly started to rise beyond the distant horizon. After that, he cleaned the blood himself no longer wishing to lay eyes upon it any longer. That had been six nights ago to this day. Six days of utter silence with nothing but the sound of her voice in his head teasing and tormenting him.

Down below, in the freshly restructured courtyard, the constant sound of the horse's footsteps was soothing as he watched the beautiful Arabian stallion trot in a perfect circle from his position atop tower he was standing on. He was damned, he at least knew that much.

Gods he hated this silence.

"You did wish it." His eyelids immediately snap open at the sound of _her_ voice, yet as he turns around to face the sound there is nothing there to greet him.

He finds nothing among the darkness, the moonlight casting his shadow but not hers. How could she when the vampire wasn't even there?

His eyes search his surroundings without success. He could have imagined it? It was possible. So when silence was all that greeted him for several good minutes, he gave up the search and turned his attention back on the golden stallion trotting in the courtyard bellow.

/You forgot this./ her voice softly adds with a small hint of playfulness as she suddenly appears in front of him producing the knife that should have been hidden in his right boot out of nothing and holding it directly in front of her master in her open palm at an even level with his chest. "Thought you might want it back."

The prince remains silent sparing no more than a second of his time on the weapon itself before turning his attention back on the horse below. The latter was just finishing one more lap around the courtyard trotting back to the stable boy exercising him. He nickers upon approach and exhales loudly once stopping shaking his head a little.

"Go away." He barely acknowledges her presence by peering at her through the curtain of raven black bangs covering his forehead and the fringe over his temple.

"What's the fun in that?" Seras teases taking a seat directly in front of him, legs crossed Indian style in front of her and arms crossed over her chest. Her clothing unmarred by the blood she left on his desk, her dress shirt white and intact, the corset and dark cloak just as much, and all that golden hair swiped to the right over her shoulder.

There was silence afterwards and it didn't break for a while. Neither of the two saying a single word.

"Leave me be." He eventually offers a bit of attention and a side glance and though the tone of his voice appears bored and irritated he's actually smiling, the right corner of his lips subtly turned upward in a hint of a smirk. His words actually held a hidden sense of pride as his eyes fall on the crimson eyed girl. This strange creature that seems to have, for a lack of a better word, _adopted_ him, perhaps even the other way around. Either way, the silence her absence left became a boring and uneventful pause he was content to leave behind. For the last few days now it had felt as though she was always there following him like a hidden shadow always by his side and always following in his footsteps without ever being seen. Without anyone, himself included, knowing she was there. And the more time passed, the more curious he became in regards to what this strange little creature was capable of. He missed seeing her and having her near. However much he wished to deny it. He no longer wished for silence.

"I'm still waiting." She offers a small grin of her own. She was still waiting for the typical 15th century way of mind and response to her rather strange display of unnatural abilities and still nothing of the sort was taking place. A shiny red apple appears in the palm of her right hand out of nothing and she silently offers it waiting for him to take in his own time.

"What for?" another moment passes in silence before he speaks and silently accepts the apple just to see what might happen next.

"Things tend to change. They always do."

"Why should they change?" He asks in return sparring a moment's time to eye the red apple in his hand.

"Just change." She whispers turning her own gaze upon the courtyard bellow. "Though I am pleased to have been missed."

"And who should have missed you vampire?" For he certainly hadn't. Not at all. Not in the least.

"You need to lie better that that." She chuckles. "Not to mention, learning how to properly talk to a vampire."

"I don't want anything from you."

"You say that now. Everyone wants something."

"Says the vampire wishing for a master. You're a killer, not a saint about to perform miracles."

"All in due time. You'll cave in eventually."

"Is that so?" He can't help but smirk while taking a bite out of the shiny red apple, sweet and crunchy melting on the tip of his tongue. God it's been so long since he tasted proper food. It was almost a sin.

"You are eating _that_. And who knows what I might have done to it before offering it to you?" Both her tone and expression became mischievous and playful hinting at a fact he completely overlooked and a mistake he didn't even realize he made until it was too late. He showed weakness by showing trust, but in showing trust he opened a door without realizing it.

Nevertheless, he chewed and swallowed the piece without hesitation. What's the worse that could happen?

"Ask what you really want to ask me." She whispers turning her attention back on the prince. He never really did offer her a reply last time.

"I have nothing to ask."

"You have _plenty_ to ask_."_

_"_I don't _want_ to ask. Not now, not ever." He takes another bite munching away at the offered sweet.

"Of course you do." She corrects him with a smile. "That's the beauty of it. That being said, you're currently wondering what happened to all that blood. What happened with my wound? And why I'm still alive."

"Not really."

"No lying this time, impressive. However, you still desire to know."

"You wouldn't show me even if I asked."

"Depends on your manner of asking."

"Why not just show me and be done with it?"

"It healed over just like the rest. There's nothing to see."

"There's always _something_ to see." He bites down on the apple when he shouldn't have. For that's how the strange turn of fate found him. One moment he's sitting there chewing on the sweet crunchy morsel and the next he's one his back close to chocking on that one piece of the fruit he hadn't had the time to swallow. One slender hand tightly grips the front of his throat while weight settled atop his waist at the same time grinding down. He was at her mercy once more. Arms and legs bound by the familiar rope like black mist that never bruised or shafted at his skin, yet somehow managed to hold him down with tremendous strength. "You keep forgetting," she tells him lowering her upper body over his chest without releasing the hold she had on his throat while her other hand came up to mockingly tap him over the other cheek with her index finger. "I'm undead." She chuckles, her grin fanged and her lips come dangerously close to touching his. "And disappointed. You aren't listening." Her crimson eyes narrow ever so slightly. "You are supposed to be _my_ master." Her thumb presses under his chin forcing it up. "Act like it." She demands. She was waiting for him to change. To grow up and be more than the corps fate had already molded him into. To strive for and desire more than what his eyes were capable of showing him.

The surprised look in his eyes at being caught unaware quickly fades, though a thick layer of confusion lingers over what should have been clear understanding in the ocean of his eyes. What had he missed in the last moment or so for the situation to change so drastically? Why the hell was she pinning him down again?

"Stop forgetting _who_ I am!" the dual tone of her voice leeks out in a harsh and firm manner meant to discipline. As much as she desperately wanted him to be comfortable around her and to trust her she needed him to hate and fear her just as much, if not more for the time being. She wasn't human and the sooner he fully understood that the better. She was not a legend, or a myth. She was real and tangible. She would serve at his every beck and calm but he would have to ear the privilege of her loyalty first. She needed a master not an angry hormonal teenager with daddy issues and hatred towards the whole of mankind no matter how justified that belief was. He was not yet ready nor would he ever be if things did not change and change soon at that.

He was neither her boy nor the ruthless warlord of latter years she had seen him become. He was still lost somewhere in between. Lost and in need of proper guidance.

"Stop _thinking_ me strange and weak when I appear _nice_ and kindly spoken. I don't need to slaughter in your presence to make you _see_ what I am." Just because she secretly helped feed him and took care of him didn't mean she was _nice_. She couldn't afford nice, but she could offer survival instead. Until he learned to _survive_ beyond vengeance and hatred. Until the flicker of life born within him with the death of that one creature, that one girl and the knife he plunged into her heart, was rekindled and saved from utterly fading out of existence. Her hands would burn with the process either way.

"Swallow." She urges gazing deeply into his eyes in a manner that offered no lenience for a refusal. The grip on his throat loosened considerably instead of tightening up more thus allowing him the kindness of finally swallowing that small lump of fruit with a small bob of his Adam's apple. "And listen well." Her lips once again threaten to touch his own a she speaks, bur it's her eyes that capture his full attention. He wasn't able to look away. He couldn't. Not when she stared at him in such a manner demanding the utmost obedience. A bright and glowing crimson like the living flames of a most beautiful fire. "I am a monster not a woman. Stop _thinking_ of me as such. Stop _looking_ at me like that." She finally brushes her lips over his if obly just barely. "Eve when you may desire to and deny it."

His lips part ready to deny such blatant atrocity, but she stops him.

"You are." And indeed he was. One of the key facts he had so greatly missed about her was the innocent beauty of her face and curvy features of her body so unlike any of the few women encountered so far. They were broken skin and bones whereas the blond beauty was full and curvy and for that one moment while pressed up against him utterly soft as well.

She was right. He did feel _attracted_. And struggling to suppress it even now.

"**Stop it**." Firm and decisive completely taking control of his state of mind and utmost attention. "Stop it now. I will no tell you again. Deny or accept it, whichever you prefer. I don't care as long as you stop." Her hand releases his throat and both move to cup his face on either side, her elbows settling atop his broad shoulders. At the same time she moves her hips grinding then down on his while keeping his head in place as it threatens to tilt back from the unexpected jolt of pleasure it sent throughout his body. His spine usually screamed in pain, not pleasure and his body simply did not know how to process the sudden torrent of information. Hardly a minute or two passed and he was already straining in his pants much to his shame. She was so amazingly soft. He couldn't' help it.

"You **are** _my_ _master_." She grinds down harder, the tone of her voice harsh and commanding. "Not a man." She does it gain. "_**Learn**_." And again and again, this time earning a pained groan he tried to hold in and failed. His expression unable to remain neutral as his eyelids dared to lower and those long dark lashed to frame his beautiful eyes. Then he made the one mistake of trusting back, a small and accidental involuntary reflex, no matter how good it felt.

"**No!**" she shouts demanding obedience while chastising him as one would a disobedient dog while pushing down on his hips harder and slamming the back of his head not too gently against the hard stone of the hard stone beneath him. And it's only then, for the first time since getting acquainted with the rope like tendrils, that they cause him harm rather than just restrain him: their grip on his arms and legs and even waist tightening and forcing them to dig into his flesh as any other metal shackle would when screwed on to tight. Offering a harsh stinging sensation without yet breaking the skin underneath while threatening to do so should he not obey. The walls of the room darkened once more until it slowly fell into darkness, cold and fearful darkness, forcing his heart to start beating faster. A rhythm that had little to do with actually fearing for his life.

"You dare _finish_ and I'll rip out your heart where you stand." She threatens with that evil and low pitched dual tone of voice that completely forces the thought of pleasure from his body, mind and soul. She wouldn't of course, but he didn't need to know that. He looked so beautiful with glazed over ocean blue eyes, parted lips and blushed cheeks he could not contain. However brief a moment it had been until she put the fear of a true Nosferatu into his fragile soul. He was, in spite of everything, just a teenage boy. A boy with needs, a boy deprived of every normal experience other people take from granted. He was just a boy and she was exquisite, fanged grin and all.

"_Listen to me_." She purrs, crimson eyes burning with fresh blood as her pupils slowly dilate, and he finds himself mesmerized following her each and every word like a lost, starving puppy happy to have found its mother, watching as each and every word that passed from those perfectly full pink lips wishing to sample them if possible. "I am made to entice my prey. Everything I am is meant to lure that prey into my power." her lips do not stop to merely tease and instead lingered over his a moment longer feeding on both his lust and his discomfort and the thickening throbbing and swelling between his legs pushing back. He wasn't moving. He was struggling to obey. But there was just so much control one teenage boy in the prime of his youth could handle in the face of such a daunting situation, in the face of such sinful temptation.

"I can feel you want me." She trusts again pushing over the bulge forcing his eyelids to close from the intense jolt pleasure that spread up his entire spine, forcing a delicious groan to pass his clenched teeth. Dear god won't her hips stop moving?

"I can feel and hear your heart racing." Her lips were close, too close once again, and her chest…

Shit!

He couldn't….shouldn't be thinking about that. It wasn't helping

So soft….and ample and soft….

And she was just so….

"Then Stop." She didn't need to read his mind for that. His thoughts were loud and clear enough without it.

"Get….off…." his voice lacks command and power. He pleads like a weak and helpless child.

"_**Make me.**_" She growls giving her voice a dark and challenging tone. Her eyes flashed red and her grin grows impossibly large showing off her teeth and fangs. "Take charge. Be my master. Fight me." That's all she wanted. He needed to see past what she was to who she was and what she could be. "_**Fight me**_**!**" She tilts his head up a bit more offering a hint of clemency by briefly stopping the movement of her hips.

Dear God finally…

"_Be my master_." His eyes go wide finally coming to terms with what she wanted, what she was trying to achieve… and a shiver of a different kind trails down his spine sobering him up.

"You are now my master. Act like it. There is nothing binding me to you. Killing you would be a breeze, no would stop me. No one would care." The truth came out harsh and bitter and needed to be said regardless. "Neither the living nor the dead and those you seek revenge against will die either way one day. Living life for the sake of that revenge is an unworthy cause."

He wanted to protest. To scream and shout that she knew nothing of his god forsaken life and torment, the vengeance she so casually spoke of as if further mocking his suffering throughout the years. He didn't.

Not one word. He stayed silent without breathing a single word. Eyes sobering more and more though a hint of lust still coursed though his veins. The bindings no longer hurt him and each breath he took pushed her chest up and down with his own causing her upper body to gently sway with the motion a few fractions of an inch at a time. She never once stopped holding his utmost attention.

"_**Live**_**.**" She hotly breathes over his lips igniting the small flame within him into a strong and powerful, bright flame no longer held down by the cold wind of disappointment and the raging storm of vengeance within his cursed soul.

"Fight the way you're looking at me now." With passion and strength. He couldn't look away. "My master fight. _Fight_." Was this creature even real? Was this amazingly strong creature even there?

"Be my master. _Fight me_. _Command me_. Stop hiding in the darkness they forged for you. Stop fighting fear and embrace it. Command it. You will never _see_ otherwise."

"See_?_" his voice is rough and thick when speaking, deeper than expected and filled with a genuine thirst for knowledge. Wanting so dearly to understand more and _see_ exactly what she meant.

"_Me…_" the world. She meant to say the world not the softly, shyly whispered 'me' that came out in stead. His eyes frantically searched all over her face for answers finding so much more than he's bargained form, more than he ever thought possible. Her words were a simple mistake, a slip of the lip they had to be, and yet he briefly found himself wishing they were not. A mistake not to be taken serious and yet he somehow saw passed it and everything became clear. The fanged grin no longer held his attention. Her smile now soft and gentle, beautifully shy upon her face in that brief second she no longer stood a monster but just a girl lying atop the boy she liked straddling his hips. It was only a blush, a tiny blotch of pink of her other wise perfectly pale skin that turned into the most erotic sight of his young life.

"Be _more_ than you claim yourself capable of. Put them behind and fight. Live on and fight. So that the world will never forget your name."

A moment passes. Than another and another all of them in tone with the rhythmic beating of his heart and silent breathing. And with every second that went by…

Dear God was she was really real? This wasn't some mass hallucination brought on by hunger or some friskily disturbing dream he was soon to wake from in a cold sweat and frantically beating heart while painfully straining in his pants.

"You shouldn't want something undead." Her lips purposely brush over the right corner of his mouth while softly whispering those words in a breathless and sensual tone. His mind a shamble with thoughts and emotion she didn't need to read to see.

"Agreed…" he hoarsely whispers back seemingly out of breath and humbled by her presence. Her smile engraved itself in his mind, his most precious moment of freedom. Both of them such liars.

"I might just keep you." She joins their lips in that long awaited kiss, brief and simple though she takes an extra second to linger and slowly pull back while caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. Her lips moist and soft and warm…everything they weren't supposed to be. He expected them to be cold and appalling to the touch coming from an undead, animated corps such as her. They were not. Instead bliss washed over him in a taste more powerful then the initial lust her body enflamed within him and the simple chaste kiss became far more precious and erotic than the sensual feel of her hips grinding down on the bulge in his pants tormenting him with slow and uneven circular strokes while her thighs clamp down around his hips harder. The torrent takes hold, too strong and fast to stop. He gladly gives himself up for the sake of that one all consuming second's long moment of utter freedom. Surrendering to a weakness he felt compelled to obey just this once, if only this once for the rest of his life. It was a very good lie.

_You shouldn't want something undead._

_Agreed._

She wasn't a creature meant to be had. The kiss ended as quickly as it began, too soon for his licking, the break painful and bittersweet. So bitter. Yet he understood why she did it. Why she tortured him this way.

"I'll teach you fear." The warmth of her breath on his now moist lips forces a shiver down the length of his spine culminating in the involuntary twitch of his hips again hers. Maybe it was his lust filled mind that compelled the act. Maybe just her words enflaming his blood with a new sense of vengeance and purpose, a new meaning, so sinfully glorious. Maybe it was both. Either way she pushes back forcing his teeth to sink into his bottom lip to hold in the groan threatening to escape his throat. That sweet, plum, pale pink bottom lips her fangs had struggled not to _taste_ and break open. It only he knew how sinfully delicious he looked.

"I will show you fear when you show me restraint in return." Her hips sway in tune with his in a slow, oh so slow, manner not chastising for his actions for once. His head immediately tilts back exposing the length of his long, elegant throat and the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallows another groan halfway.

"Why?" he manages to ask before she joins their lips in a somewhat longer kiss, 1 or 2 seconds more than the last, while pulling back with a soft pop.

"My poor prince." She teases making sure he picks up on the mocking undertone her voice carried. "What good are you helplessly laying here with a woman riding your cock?" she trusts harder and deeper and longer to emphasize her point and words, the last one especially, again catching him by surprise with the sheer vulgarity of her phrase. The groan oh so beautifully released from his chest while the deep baritone of his voice made it sound even more horse and sensual.

"I am neither the first nor the last you will find in this life. What good are you dead and distracted like this?" what good was he dead? What good did thinking like that entitle him? "Stop wanting me." She demands only to have him shout in return.

"_I can't_!" the truth hurt to say out loud. He can't. He's weak and foolish and lust driven, just a boy in the face of something so gloriously beautiful and stunning. He wanted her and his body was more than willing to obey.

"Then you are a fool." She hisses in his face angrily and fearful that the step they had just taken forward broke into sending them crashing several steps back into the darkness. "Were I a hag you would not show such interest. If this is truly all you see I feel sorry and pity the fool you are showing yourself to be."

"You're beautiful." No matter what happened at this point he had to say it. At least once, just once for the rest of his life.

"_**I am Nosferatu**_**!**" She grills into his mind gripping the sides of his face tighter. "_Nosferatu…_" death and destruction and blood and lust, fear, undead, doomed, hated and feared and scorned, unwanted, undesired while coveted by all the living fools whose eyes land on her body. Vampire…

"Stop forgetting who I am. Never forget who I am. What good are you dead when your own stupidity kills you? When one day you find yourself caring for another as you already do for that boy? You care for him, you want to protect him. The brother you never had, the family that never abandoned you and left you to die. What will you do when that fate is thrown and made to dust? When the one you care for, no matter who they may be, no matter what they may be hurt you? Betray you?" the color of her blood red irises darkens a shade and her eyes narrow into what appears to be disappointment. She gazes deeply into his eyes so that he can see the full impact of her words. "_Break you_?" the blood turning darker and darker still. "When you find yourself torn between what _needs_ to be done, _has_ to be done and you _want_ to de done? Will you love what they were? Are? Or have become?"

"_I don't_…" Scared and frightened. That's what he looked like. That's what he sounded like saying those words. And neither heart nor body betrayed him for the rhythm continued to stay strong and steady. It was his eyes, his eyes that betrayed him completely. He didn't understand.

"Will you keep them still?" she pauses once more easily picking up on the increase in speed of his heartbeat, a beat growing in sheer anticipation for the next words about to pass her lips. "To die at the proper moment as you do now? As you were _given_ by those you _love_."

His eyes go impossibly wide at the statement.

"I…" scared and frightened, confused beyond belief. So innocently and hauntingly beautiful. So utterly in a world that cast him out.

"After all this time?" her thumb gently brings his chin up while her fingers caress his cheeks and she once again leans over him without breaking eyes contact once, her tone of voice no longer so violent. "Where will you stand? Vengeance? Life? _Monster…_"

"Human." His voice goes down an octave while replying, raspy and hoarse as if not used in such a long time.

"Humans more monstrous than the creatures lurking in the dark." She scolds without stopping to caress his cheek. "Human is monster and monster is abomination. Cast away from the divine that made all of us in his image. A world seeded in blood and death for that is the only truth every generation will ever know. To be human is to acknowledge our greatest gift," her pause only adds to the palpable tension so heavy and thick between them. "_Destruction_." He was frightened and confused and by God did he ever want her in that moment. All of the stories he involuntarily had to listed to over the ears of men bragging about their many conquests. He wanted to know.. he wanted to know with her now. It made no sense and it scared him. "Destroying ourselves. That is what we do best."

"You're not human." He so badly wanted to know.

"I was killed by humans." It's only for a second yet he's sure he heard her growl those words instead of just hissing them in righteous anger any fool could easily picked up if only he paid attention. "Killed and cast into the darkness at a far younger age than the death your father dealt you. _Humans_ shattered my world and killed my innocence leaving me to die. Humans pushed me away when I would scream and cry in the night seeing my family slaughtered again and again and again. A bother, a burden, violent and unwanted by my pears for watching them die. For watching my mother's corpse being raped with a smile." Her pause brief yet he can see the rage and the sadness in the eyes. "For taking my vengeance in blood. _Humans'_ don't want a human with problems. A human _tainted_ for that is what we both are. Not even those closest to my family. Nobody wanted me and no body ever told me 'why'!" she shouts and distress begin to crack open her own protective walls. She should not be speaking of this. "The world crumpled under my feet and nobody lifted a finger to catch me. Humans abandoned me and it took a monster to show me kindness." It was the first time ever seeing her this close to the breaking point. All that strength fading away in despair within the blink of an eye. So he stays silent watching her _die_ in front of him.

"Love thy neighbor as you love yourself." Seras smirks as distain fills her blood red eyes and her pupils shrink to slits. However, that wasn't the reason why the prince's blue eyes widen while his lips fail to form the words to reply. She was crying blood. Two perfectly crimson droplets of blood that trailed down her cheeks. Vampires cried blood.

"Is that not what _your_ God demands? Thou shall not kill when his entire kingdom was forged in the death of one people or another who somehow seemed unworthy to live whereas others were the _chosen_ ones with all the rights in the world. If were are Adam and Eve forged in his image then why not choose the devil instead? The angel once cast from that very heaven."

"_You cry blood_." Her tears were actual blood. Incredible. Beautiful. He should be scare and terrified, yet all he was capable of feeling was sadness…her sadness. and it washed over him like a wave.

"Good enough for a promise." she whispers back while brushing her right thumb over his full bottom lip. That same crimson dripped onto his cheeks and trailed down disappearing into the raven strands framing his head.

"I don't understand."_ Show me please…_

"God's will is supposed to be to fight. But no one will ever teach you how or why. Rise and fight because they're wrong and we're right. Because our way is best and our word is law not theirs. Because we are better and rise above the filth and the rest. That's why you're here. That's why they sold you. Why they kept you alive to die at the proper moment like a pig for slaughter. And you are finally trapped between what _needs_ to be done, _has_ to be done and you _want_ to be down. Death needs to be done. Vengeance has to be done."

"Freedom." The prince began to say only to be cut off. Freedom…

He wanted to say it. He wanted to want it. Because other than that he held no other mortal desires. He wanted to want the notion of freedom far more than he needed that actual freedom.

"_A lie_."

Freedom didn't exist. Not the kind he was imagining.

Freedom was like hope reaching out from under the frozen soil in the harshest of winters. Like a frail and fragile newborn plant, a speck of green amongst black and white, only to be crushed by an indifferent boot. Silence falls as the prince looks up into her face with an expression she doesn't know to interpret or place. Lost, confused, while desperately trying to understand at the same time. Inflamed and exited by everything happening around him. Sad and understanding towards all of the pain she just unburdened herself from. His lips part with the sound of him breathing in once, twice…

His eyes still desperately searching her face for answers.

"_What do I want?_" the sound so hopefully fragile and small like the flicker of hope left behind in Pandora's box when all the other plagues already cursed the world.

"_**Life."**_ Not the one he had. Not the one he wanted. Not the one he desired.

The one he oh so desperately needed.

Abandonment….Hell…needed to happen.

Suffering…eternal purgatory…had to happen.

Heaven….it yet fears wanting.

And with that one word Seras opens her mind to him and the sentiment, the bond, she shared with her _master_. She opened his mind to the bliss that could be, the life and passion free of reason holding and dragging him down to his grave. A bond and sentient she would never tell him of or show for what it truly was. But a _feeling_ she would gladly share. A feeling she would gladly give him a small piece of.

"_Please_…" he agrees as if somehow understanding the silent meaning of that one all important word and with it the entire definition that quickly flashed trough her mind. She was stunning, gloriously so. "Teach me." Eyes searching her face once again seeing how the anger slowly gave way. He would learn this strength. Learn it and surpass it. "_**Teach me**_ _**servant**_." He forces his heat up in spite of the hands holding him down, a few cm off the pillow. His eyes already stole some of that strength and the rest would soon follow. His soul would finally stop dying a slow and pointless death. Teach me how….teach me everything….save me….

"All that I am master." His wrists go free. His legs unbound, dominance already established. Yet he keeps still and unmoving.

Why bother?

The moon was high and fully above their heads casting its light on her golden tresses.

Why bother at all?

**.**

**.**

She was soft and he was safe.

And it was all that mattered.

Her eyes his most beautiful treasure.

.

.

_Save me…._

_Save me please…_

**.**

**.**

To be continued….


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 38**

This chapter is a bit shorter, but the next one will be a lot longer.

Chapter 28

.

.

"For God's sake eat the damned thing already." The young raven haired man sighs venting out a good amount of frustration towards the prince sitting atop his bed with his right leg drawn up to his chest and a barely touched apple in his right hand, his arm lazily resting draped over his raised knee. He too held one of those apples in his hands, though his was already halfway eaten. "You've been starring at it long enough…" but his words further go unnoticed by the blue eyed teen. His eyes were lost and distant and deep in thought so much that he scarcely heard the other teen's words. And what he did, well he didn't pay much attention to it. His thoughts were still focused on events not nearly an hour old.

Flashback

_The small rope like tail coiled unable to stay still. Every few seconds the tiny thing would move, the tip curling inward, while the rest of her body stood perfectly still curled up in a ball not far form his own position atop the bed. Her chest moved, which in itself was the most peculiar and curious fact of his examination, now that he knew exactly what this tiny creature actually was. His head lightly tilted to the right studying her closely not sure whether she was truly asleep or just faking. Her tail too had been still less than 10 min ago before it suddenly started to twitch. Were he to touch her, would she wake up? Would her heart still beat? Would he feel the small thumping sound pressing back into the pad of his finger or the palm of his hand? The rest of the night had passed in silence as did the whole following day right after. After their last discussion up on the roof another two and a half days passed without a single word from her before she suddenly reappeared bringing him a fresh plate of food and the very apples thy were currently debating on munching on. Food and information, valuable information he hadn't had the chance to fully assimilate just yet. The big questions being 'where?' and 'how?' she got them from, because the wax seals upon the papers belonged to the highest ranking individuals there. The silence of his room had been broken by the tell tail signs of tiny claws scratching over the fabric of his blanket and the tiny white ball of fuzz that popped out of the darkness with that all too familiar __**meow**__. And just as always the small creature settled down not far from his side curling into a small ball that easily fit into on of his hands. The small thing settled without offering him a second glance, without a care in the world, oblivious to the potential danger he might represent. Especially after the heated argument from before. Cheeky little thing, he had to give her that. He had to admire the blatant display of determination she possessed. So the prince merely leaned back with back against the wall by her side, bringing his right leg over to his chest and letting the left stretch out in front of him to hang of the edge of the mattress while both hands rest on his lap._

_Still and silent, so was she truly asleep? Or was it all just another game?_

_**To die at the proper moment. **_

_Out of everything said, those were the words to haunt him most__**.**_

_There was a certain double meaning he didn't quite catch onto that first time, but as the night slowly progressed onto morning from that moment on the many puzzle pieces seemed to slowly fall into place with a lot more clarity than he cared to openly admit. He'd been so bound and tied to the idea of an imminent, unavoidable and meaningless death to an equally meaningless life to happen somewhere in the near future…today, tomorrow, a weak, a month…years from now. One day. One day it would have come to pass regardless taking the last bit of imagined control out of his hands._

_**At the proper moment.**_

_Just like that._

_Control was offered back to him so easily with just a random simple phrase in a manner he wasn't aware of until long after the deed was done. A decision that no longer excluded him when the moment came to pass. He could now decide. After all, the boy was already dead and the young man he became had one foot in the grave. All he had to save him was his title and that too wasn't worth much. So maybe he should just die and be reborn from his own ashes. Maybe it wasn't such a far fetched idea. The world had abandoned him. The time was only right to ensure said actions did not become a branding stone instead, one to forever mark his life from that moment on. It was time to make a change on his own._

_**Never forget who I am**_

_Her eyes locked on his in that one all consuming moment where a silent agreement was reached. And he would take her place. One day….he would take her place. One day, no one would ever harm him again._

_His head turns back to the desk and his eyes fall on the wooden bowl containing 8 crimson red apples and next to it a plate with a warm piece of fresh bread, some cheese and meat. Food that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere a few moments ago prior to her appearance considering they weren't there to begin with nor the last time he looked across this room._

_A sight that greeted yet another question? Should he eat?_

_The choice was his to make and no one would be changing his mind any time soon regardless of how hungry he may be. His stomach growls out loud protesting that decision, hungry and empty for days now with nothing other that small apple he'd partaken in about 48 hours ago. Of course he took it then. He'd been starving and she already wasted more than one opportunity to end his life. So whether that one particular piece of fruit was tainted or not, he quite frankly didn't give a damn. And now he was facing that same decision once more. The scent alone was enough to slowly and silently torture him by making him picture how wonderful the fresh bread would taste upon his lips and melt on the tip of his tongue along with the seasoned piece of meat and the fresh piece of cheese lying next to it. Actual and descent food unlike the rest of the crap he came to eat during those six long_ _years_, _the beginning especially. It would taste wonderful, if only he took it. _

_Alas, he turns away from the sight swallowing the heavy lump in his throat. He takes his mind away from his stomach by kneading some of the knots out of his long hair and then braiding it in a loose ponytail. It doesn't take him long and it doesn't keep the hunger at bay, his stomach so empty for the past week already. The act only brings him momentary comfort. He might as well tend to his wounds next._

Flashback end

"Where did you get these?" Six more matching bright red apples stood atop the prince's desk in a small wooden, round bowl. No one had brought him food in over 7 days and Ian had not heard the all too familiar squeak of the small slot in the door open when food was brought. There was never any food for those under punishment and for those that did receive there was no such thing as good food. Sufficient and adequate perhaps, but not necessarily what one would define as good. So when punished, it was an actual debate whether being starved was truly punishing people or just saving their stomach from more disappointment. Vlad's door had not opened since the night before the slaughter and even after it was all done, he'd still been denied food for two more days.

"Just eat." The prince says bringing the red shining apple back to his lips taking another small bite happily munching away at the small godsend.

"We don't have to not fuck up to not to get something like this." Food they got and that pretty much summed it up. "What'd you do? Sell your soul to the devil?"

Vlad grins stopping the apple short of touching his lips.

"I _did_." He bites down recollecting the intense crimson of one particular pair of eyes. And with his words all form of amusement left the raven haired teen's face, his expression showing off a moment of true disbelief to which the prince chuckles taking one more bite out of his partially eaten crimson apple munching away without a care in the world.

"What do you mean 'yes'? You can't expect me believe you actually d…"

"We're already in hell. What difference can one more demon make?"

"A _demon_ brought you apples?" Ian asks raising one eyebrow in disbelief and chuckling in a rather sarcastic manner.

"Behind you." The prince says it in a casual and nonchalant manner to which Ian quickly reacts by tuning around with yet another 'what?' passing his lips only to find two large, round blue eyes starring up at him from atop the desk he was leaning against. The small kitten meows and her round eyes seem impossibly large, a tiny pink tongue playfully curling in her mouth as she does so. The brief light sound unsettles him not having expected to either actually see something behind him much les have it move or speak. And so his shoulders twitch with the sound. One small, rope like tail curls around the small while body as an equally small triangular shaped ear gives of a tiny twitch to the sound his startled gasp produces. The apple he'd been holding rolls away passing the teen's boots without notice, the fruit having slipped from his grasp and fingers unnoticed.

Just a cat. It was just a cat. When in fact he'd expected more, so much more.

"Are you kidding me?" frustration rolls of the tip of his tongue along with every word he speaks once he regains his senses. "A cat? This is what you have? A bloody cat."

Seras hisses in reply not licking either his words nor the tone of his voice implicating she was _just_ a cat. Angry for even thinking it. Stupid human.

"Careful." the prince's lips curl into a sly knowing smirk with a chuckle. "_She bites_." The apple rolls under the desk forgotten.

"You're sick, you know that right?" Ian continues with a sigh bringing his right hand up through his hair. "You're better off with a rat."

He reaches around the cat for another fresh apple and then turns away from the desk biting down on the piece of fruit he intended to finish this time around. He only takes a few steps before curiosity gets the better of him prompting him too look back over his shoulder. To his surprise the white ball of fur not longer sits atop the dark brown desk and it takes him more than a few seconds to find her again wiggling her back legs over the edge of the bed with her front claws firmly imbedded into the blanket to help her up.

"Poor little kitten," the prince mocks as he can't help but teasingly comment on the kitten's situation and predicament even as his left hand reaches out to grab hold of the scuff at the back of her neck and pluck her up from her misery, easily sitting her atop the blanket next to him instead. "The bed's too high for you." He chuckles all the more amused when she meows as if protesting the second those words pass his lips. Ian raises an eyebrow at the sight unsure whether or not to comment at all or just keep his mouth shut. It wasn't as though that cat could actually understand him and more like talking to the walls of ones cell knowing they won't be responding any time soon when the shattering feeling of isolation can't be ignored any longer. They listen but can't and don't offer adequate reply in return.

Flashback

_Vampire…_

_No, that wasn't quite right. Despite what she was, that wasn't a proper name. He didn't know her name. All he had was a title, a child of the night. Perhaps so. _

_"__**Childe?**__" he calls merely for the sake of giving it a try, for the fun of it, only to find himself unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised when she pops out of nowhere right on his lap straddling his hips, her thighs squeezing tight. _

_"How may I serve you?" he doesn't even have the time to meet her gaze or look into her eyes before her lips are once again whispering such sinful, depraved words into his left ear. Her tone, that tone particularly, held way too much power over him making it difficult to think and breathe straight and hard to swallow the suddenly formed lump in his throat. Damn her wretchedly sinful soul to the pits of hell and back._

_"Oh but what a shame that would be." She smiles allowing her breath to caress the underside of his jaw in a manner that that said her lips were just mm apart from his skin, her lips and her fangs._

_"Get off." His hands grip her upper arms hard enough to bruise. "Now." He should feel sorry and not so pleased causing her pain by gripping her arms so tight, but she wasn't human. He finally came to grips with that fact. She wasn't human and she wasn't weak. His hands couldn't possibly bruise her skin even if he wanted them to. Regardless of how…_

_"__**Harder…"**__ she purrs sensually into the shell of his ear leaning her shoulder a bit forward to encourage his hand and make herself understood. He pulls her closer crushing her chest to his own while moving his hips under her in a small gesture that shouldn't have been repeated while his fingers dug deeper into her upper arms. _

_"__**I hate you.**__" Spoken with as much frustration as possible. He barely recovered from their last so called encounter without utterly embarrassing himself in front of her and she just had to sit back on his lap and press herself against him while whispering that into his ear. Fuck._

_"You're free to try." She chuckles swaying her hips just a little bit harder into his own for a second, her fangs teasingly brushing over his pulse point ever so slightly._

_"Enough!" he hisses back into her face. "Do not presume to know my mind."_

_"Or what?" she presses on in mocking laughter baring the tips of her fangs._

_"__**I will end you."**__ The small flame became a fire. A brilliantly shining fire hot that devoured all in its path without a hint of mercy. His eyes burned, his thoughts hardened and his hands offered no mercy. Glorious. There was her master._

_"__**Do it."**__ lowering the tone of her voice an octave lower made her sound surreal once more matching his tone in depth and deadly precision: a harsh and precise blow meant to kill with one shot and one shot only. Her eyes narrow at the same time challenging him further._

_"What good are you dead?" the prince mimics her own words with a sly grin taking the upper hand this time around._

_Seras smiles wider with a prideful look on her face that silently proclaimed her victory. Such a good boy._

_"I'm already dead." She whispers it while pulling away from him so that he sees the way her fangs lengthen more right in front of his eyes, growing slowly until they passed her upper lip. "Stop mistaking me for the living." She leans in and actually succeeds in brushing her lips over his in a feather like touch second's long. Her smirk wide and her fangs eager for a taste. "They are not this interesting."_

_"Get off." He grips her arms tighter and tighter until he was sure there must surely be a dark bruise by now, his eyes darkening and taking in a devilish expression she did not hope to see so soon on his face._

_"I dare you to try." Her irises turn a deep crimson narrowing in the challenge she was offering on a silver platter. There wasn't any physical way to force her into obeying. He quite simply wasn't strong enough to push her down and have his way his way with her. She would crush him where he stood. That required strength on a whole different level._

_"You'll do as I command." He demands while pulling her just a bit closer, face to face, hips twitching ever so slightly unable to stand still with her body so intimately pressed against him. The friction, despite the lack of movement, slowly killing him and driving him insane. Perhaps that was her goal all along. "You will obey."_

_"Will I?" she challenges him once more while smirking that god forsaken smirk of hers as though she's already won._

_"__**You will servant**__." And how utterly delicious that one word sounded dripping off his lips like the sweetest of honey. "Everything I say." the man rose up from the ashes of the boy, from his own weakness and prison and the sight was nothing short of glorious. A __**will**__ the gods were to obey and kneel in front of. Fuck, he was calling out to her inner darkness and demons without realizing what he was doing, like a highly potent drug coursing through his body with maddening force. "From this day forward." He held on so hard and his words were so strong and determined that her whole body gave into the delicious shiver running down her spine close to melting right then and there in his arms. Her legs clamped down on his hips harder following the lead of his own hands upon her._

_Fuck…perhaps she will._

_And oh how good it would feel each time he rammed himself into her body with that look in his eyes and that strength in his arms and, the sheer depth of his baritone voice lowering further while panting harder and harder into her ear trusting deeper and deeper._

_**"You are mine." **_

_Her lips part ever so slightly accompanied by a small sigh easily confused with a gasp, a light tremble in her shoulders often mistaken for fear. Her eyes widen becoming rounder no longer as conceded and superior, but humbled and amazed and in awe at the sight of the man the prince had become in front of her. And was it ever glorious. There he was….her master….and how long she waited to finally have him._

_"And you __**will**__ obey."_

_"If that is your wish." Her head briefly tilts to the right with a soft, genuine smile unlike the rest offered so far. He wasn't sure how to interpret it. As a challenge or something else entirely? Either way, he doesn't back down next nor does he relent his grip on her arms._

_"Why kill so many for __**one**__?" he feels compelled to ask if just for the sake of asking. Humans killed, it's what they did best and in that she was more than accurate. The simplest reasons had the power to spark entire wars and blood feuds. So asking a vampire who had once been human just like the rest of them why she killed…was both redundant and unnecessary. _

_"And one for the price of many." She replies in return confusing him all the more. "Which is ironic considering __**why**__ you're here."_

_The look he gave her was good enough to kill. She was stepping on that dangerously thin line again with so little concern for her well being. _

_"I'm good at finding things people hide. And one is usually enough."_

_"I did not ask."_

_"As you refuse to ask about my food." She pause just enough to briefly gesture with her head in that particular direction. "You know you want to."_

_"I don't care." He looks away instead. A lie of course. He was starving. But it was the principle of the matter and not the needs of his terribly empty stomach. _

_"You trained for war, but you don't know true __**war**__." She cups his face forcing him with gentle persuasion to turn his attention back on her and gaze deeply into her eyes. "__**Let me show you one of mine.**__" She only holds his gaze for a moment longer before she opens her mind to what war truly meant and looked, a portrait far beyond the image he had forged for himself. War he had been preparing for and had heard of since the day of his birth. War he knew nothing about. The other, darker side, to that what went hand in hand with blood, death and gore and every other emotion he learned to close himself off against. The fear, the terror, the sheer raw human emotion and factor the prince had learned to close himself from. He loved the heavy, thick walls he made for himself to hide behind, the distance that couldn't shield his eyes and mind and heart from the horrors and his skin from the warm touch of blood on his hands. If any, the walls at least made an invisible barrier._

_Yet even so he found himself small and meaningless in the face of the __**world**__ she was showing, small like a small black dot in a crimson sea swallowing him up._

_His heart beat…pounded…in his chest to the point of bursting and he felt it in every cell of his body, the cold sweat trailing down the back of his neck and the sudden need for her hands not to leave his face and break the one thread of sanity that yet held her mind together. He could feel himself slipping away from the last threat of his sanity._

_His eyes wide and terrified and glazed over with dilated pupils, ragged breaths and a pounding heart close to dying right there and there. _

_In the end, it was a very good he didn't touch one morsel of his food for it might have ended up all over the floor and his bed._

_What the hell had he just witnessed? What…the hell?..._

_"If your god's will is to fight, will this be your answer?"_

_He felt sick. Gods did he feel sick._

_"Will this be how you reply?""_

_The world came crashing back with an intense sense of nausea and sickness washing over him. He could barely hear her. He could barely feel her hands upon his face._

_Gods was he sick. Utterly and thoroughly sick and nauseous to the point if felt horribly difficult to breathe._

_There was a weight to his chest he could not recognize or identify. And even if he did, he wasn't all that sure he wished to._

_"Humans can't show you. They can only tell you." Her words seemed broken, but he understood them nonetheless. All that was left was to comprehend what he understood._

Flashback end

"You can't keep it." Ian he finishes his apple throwing the stub away in the waste bucket behind the door.

"Allowance is not an issue." The prince replies without looking up from the large blue eyes studying him so intently, his index finger having found a rhythm with which to play with over the tip of her pointy left ear though quite hesitant at first. Her cheek settles atop his right knee, her tiny pink nose scrunching up in the most adorable fashion. "One can't kill what does not exist." His right had retracts and with it one more soft meow fills the chamber. The purring starts loud and vibrant and strong though his finger barely makes contact with her soft white fur. His limb just hung in mid air close, yet at a distance without touching deeply buried in his own train of thoughts. So she pushes her own head into his palm instead purring by just that much louder.

_I'm here…_

"You don't need to be taking in strays."

"I prefer something warmer than cold, unresponsive walls." He moves his hand over the kitten's back inwardly pleased when her spine reflexively arching up into his warm open palm seeking the touch. "Besides, she'll have her uses soon enough."

"Like what?" the somewhat confused look on Ian's face doesn't go unnoticed when he gazes down at the so impossibly small, tiny thing, emphasize on the word tiny. "There _are_ rats bigger then her."

"Indeed." Vlad agree wholeheartedly moving to stand up from the bed while picking up the small kitten in his right hand and holding her close to his body, her back pressed up against the middle of his chest as he walks about the room. "Though hardly as deadly." He places her atop his desk and then makes his way over to the window alone.

"You know, I really hate it when you get that _look_ in your eyes. It's _disturbing_ to say the least. Like you haven't already _learned_ punishment."

"Your point?"

"We only have a few days left. Can't you not do whatever it is you're thinking of doing?"

"No." The way he smiled. The way his lips curled in that grin that would, from that day on, forever define and brand him. A grin that thoroughly disturbed the young teen. His teeth flash and with them the pointed tips of his slightly longer than average canines offer him the illusion of genuine fangs. His blue eyes narrowed not in anger or concentration, but rather mischief taking on a look that spoke of imminent danger putting his colleague on edge. "What's the fun in that?" There was a certain edge to both his words and the lowered tone of his voice that could hardly be ignored. Only the kitten's blue eyes matched him, yet both teens had their gaze away from her missing it completely.

The bird was learning to leave the nest.

**.**

**.**

Perhaps too soon to use his wings.

.

.

To be continued...

Till next time. Bye.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 39**

New chapter's up. This was originally a little longer, but then I went ahead and changed the ending and that turned into a chapter of its own so I had to split it up in two.

p.s: inspirational music for the second half of this chapter and the ending for my next one ( I'm going to give it a really strong ending to set up the stage for the future chapter to come): Clannad - The Place Where Wishes Come True II

Anyone who's seen that anime and heard the song before will know what I'm talking about. It really gets you.

That being said, enjoy.

Chapter 39

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.

There were flames burning everywhere, brightly glowing and growing with such raw power and heat they lit up the night sky engulfing the stone structure of the most remote and distanced wall of Edirne's fortified surrounding walls all the way up to the top. Dark, black smoke rose high in the air as screams filled the dark sky. There were flames everywhere and no one would escape them unscathed. There were flames everywhere with nowhere left to run.

"Retreat!" a man barely managed to shout before an arrow hit him in the left shoulder piercing through linen and flesh alike with enough force to make him fall off his horse. The entire complex was in uproar and in a far worse panic than during the slaughter well over a week and a half ago. However, unlike then, there was no rain to subdue the rising or wash all that blood away. And the smoke was thick and heavy in everyone's lung with no one left to stomp it out.

"Shit." Ian curses out loud while avoiding being seen or heard by any oncoming soldiers, doing his best to keep unseen to the shadows. A full red moon hung over his head and when he chanced a glance towards it all he was able to make out was the rapid descent of a black swarm of bats heading his way.

"What the..." he barely has time to ponder over his own words before the same swarm surrounds him without warning while his eyes are still glued to the dark night sky and the blood red moon. But then the swarm thickens impairing his vision as he's suddenly assaulted from all directions by hundreds of small black creatures all chirping and squeaking as they had the night of the slaughter.

This wasn't how the plan should have worked. They couldn't just run away without proof for their dismissal from the garrison's warden or be considered fugitives to be haunted down for sport by the best of trainers as it usually happened with at least a fifth of all the children forcefully taken from their homes and given to the army. Meaning, they needed a signature and a seal and a firm approval of dismissal from the warden that could not be disputed later on. Like hell all that was going to happen.

The torrent comes and goes within the terrifying span of a heartbeat and when it's done there is nothing but deafening silence over the course of one long agonizing minute before he hears another scream and blood suddenly splatters all over his face.

A long, drawn out growl draws his attention towards two long white fangs that stared him down, fangs extending and stained red in the blood of what his mind can only assume was a fallen victim. He's not sure when his legs began to move on their own, but he's far from questioning then as he slowly backs away compelled to doing so by the screaming voice in his head and chest. The pathway is empty around him and the twin glowing orbs burned bright as fire while staring him down. Eyes mean and spiteful that followed his every move searching for the best angle to strike and devour him whole. The claws were long and scratching at the ground beneath large, heavy paws that left deep mark under the weight of the great beast. Thick, shaggy, midnight black fur shone with a reddish border from the crimson light of the full, round moon shining above him as well as flames near by. Hundreds of small beady eyes looked down upon him, studied him, with the greatest of interest from their perch high above his head on each and every surrounding rooftop forming almost a full circled around him. And the beast kept coming closer and closer and closer until the weight of its breath was a torrent of white fog surrounding its stained and dripping muzzle while each exhale further intensified the deeply resonating baritone of its growl. Somewhere in the distance, there was the faint calling of a name...his name...but that was all that it was; a fragile piece of hope lost in the wind. He couldn't move closer and he couldn't do more than watch from a distance as the once safety of the shadows he had kept too now became his tomb imprisoning him to the power and will of the beast guarding at its gate.

He could shout and he could scream till his throat became hoarse and bled from the effort and no one would be any wiser as to the fate befallen the young raven haired teen. Darkness surrounded the large body of the wolf, swirling mist like tendrils like the flicker of black flames within a fireplace, the demon hound coming closer and closer and though there was ample space to run, he couldn't. His legs forgot how to function and how to get him out. He was blocked in a vicious circle of panic and fear while under the hypnotic gaze of the beast.

Then, just like that, the wolf came to a stop flicking one year forward while the other turned to the side as if expecting to hear something or someone. Long curved claws sank into the ground and muscles rippled and tensed beneath that long, shaggy black fur...the teen screams...and the wolf pounces to the endless screech of the hundred biddy eyes looking down on the scene.

His arms instantly move up to protect his upper body with a scream, but are proved useful when darkness surrounds him binding those limbs to his body rendering them utterly useless. One slender hand extended, one slender finger pressing in the hallow at the base of his throat forcing his lungs to still as the shadows part from the monster to reveal beauty instead.

"Rats, was it?" His eyes grow wide upon hearing her speak while her hand remained busy trailing her index finger up along his throat. "Rats **bigger** than me." Her hand jerks forward making a quick grab for his jaw and pull his head forward. "Nothing," his pupil dilate further when her own shine a bright crimson. "Is bigger than me. Nothing will harm you more than me." Her fangs are long and extended, just like the beast's, as she smiles with a savage grin whilst leaning in to take in scent and forces his head to the left baring the right side to her pleasure. Her tone low and deadly and precise whilst whispering into his ear, lips deliciously curling sharing their most treasured secret. "**Meow**..."

Ian goes impossibly still, almost limp, eyes widening more with a shatter of a breath to pass his lips in the form of a weak and startled gasp in the wake of her amused chuckle.

The teen is then quickly spun around while Seras grabs hold of the collar of his dress shirt with both hands forcing him to once again look upon her. "Amazing what one little apple can do. In a story, it was even **poison**." She emphasizes that particular word watching him squirm. "You should know better." She laughs disappearing into darkness only to reappear behind him and turn him around once more. "Don't worry though, I'm not allowed to harm you," she purposely pauses making sure the words she speaks have the necessary time to sink in. "**Yet. **But one day I might."

Her eyes seem deeper and darker pulling him in to drown in the crimson ocean they represent. Pulling on his senses. Pulling on his mind until there was nothing left except welcoming darkness. He wouldn't be remembering her any time soon.

"A shame," the words are far and distant. "You would have done it." And go forever unheard as he falls limp into her shadows.

Seras's gaze then wanders upward towards the full blood moon and the part of the sky untainted by the growing column of fire and smoke. A perfect and beautiful night. A night...

"Time for a bite to eat." She purrs turning her attention back on the one scent that mattered. There was still a bargain that needed to be upheld.

**.**

**.**

"Nothing would have happened." She utters in such an innocent and sweetly spoken voice not a few minutes later that he might have actually believed it had it not been for the sly and somewhat conceded grin upon her face after reappearing beside him on top of the one of the rooftops overlooking the pathway below where the scene had just unfolded. Her hands just as innocently held behind her back.

"And still I find that hard to believe." The words roll of the tip of the prince's tongue with a heavy dose of sarcasm as he spares her a second before glancing down at the mayhem unfolding below his feet once more: fire and screams and utter chaos. How lovely.

"I promised I wouldn't."

"No, I forced you into obeying you wouldn't. There's a difference." He corrects her while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Is there?" Seras playfully questions without getting a reply in return. Instead the prince merely takes hold of her coat at the back and pulls her along.

"You'd be surprised." He whispers keeping his tone of voice down only to be greeted by her sly grin as she suddenly fades and reappears directly in front of him blocking his path and all that remains trapped in his hand are dissipating whiffs of black smoke.

"Would I?" Her eyes bright and determined, head lightly tilted to the left.

"You hunted down five more men, set the whole place on fire not to mention..."

"And that bothers you?" she softly interrupts before more can be said with a look of utmost curiosity in her large, round crimson eyes making him realize what it was he was actually saying, or rather implying. And once it happens, he doesn't replies but looks away biting his lower lip for a second in gesture he doesn't even realize he's doing while his gaze drifts away in contemplation.

"It's not wrong to..._care_." she carefully and hesitantly points that out while taking one more step towards him, her head tilting just a tad more ever so gently.

"Are you my priest now?" He scoffs averting his gaze even more dismissing her words. He didn't care. Not at all. Not one bit.

"It's not." She insists nonetheless moving in front of him catching his eyes.

"I don't care vampire. There's a difference." He insists either way.

"There's only a difference if you wish it to be. Caring isn't weak." She holds his gaze noticing the reluctance within his eyes. He was close to agreeing with her, yet far from it at the same time. "Even if you hate them." Even if they hurt you, though she left that particular part unsaid. _Even if they hurt you or wronged you._

"A really bad priest." He adds though beneath all the sarcasm his words poses lay a fragile layer of genuine gratitude. He spares her a second more before turning his head around to look over the edge of the roof anew. The silence that stretches out between them is a comfortable one.

"I still don't care vampire."

"I know." Seras replies while moving to join him. "But let us pretend you do for a bit longer. Besides, you suck at confessing master."

His sudden laugh somehow feels lighter and his eyes no longer as confused.

"Nothing would have happened, was it?" He the spares her a glance from the corner of his left eye, but she's already turning around to move around him. "You need to lie better vampire." He calls after her watching the sway in her hips, free of the long coat that would have blocked them, as she walked and the rhythmic dance of her long golden hair so beautifully illuminated by the orange glow of the fire below.

_And so must I. _He silently thinks before moving to follow the blaze below instead.

"Where is Ian vampire?"

"He's fine." she interrupts him stopping at by the edge to wait for him to reach her side. "Just out of the way, for now."

"I'm disappointed to say I expected something _different_ considering," he briefly pauses before making a small gesture with his head towards the destruction so carefully laid out at his feet. "All that." There was a playful undertone to his words underneath all that lovely sarcasm.

"I can't have you burn, now can I?" Seras replies in equal measure. "Besides, you can't be free of them without proof of dismissal. You may be considered fugitive otherwise. One that just happened to slip away."

"And yet I've already planed that without you. You need not do anything."

"Have you?" she suddenly twirls in front of him blocking the view of the fire below with a different form of flame so very much alive within the unique color of her irises and hair. "They can demand you back. One way or the other. Today, tomorrow or years from now. You or someone else you'll eventually come to care for."

"They can try." A dark and dangerous edge takes over his tone, but even so he can't mask the truth she was implying.

"They _**will**_." She replies stomping the rebellious fire with reason. "And achieve it regardless of who you become. A pawn is still a pawn no matter what he wears."

Damn it. He was really beginning to hate how right she always appeared to be. And how sound her logic was.

"And you're proposing?" So holds in his reply and offers a different one instead, purposely leaving out words for her to fill in his place.

"He hates you, you hate him. I say make the most of it. And I'll take care of the rest."

"And do _**what**_ exactly?" he asks even as his gaze wonders over her slender, elegant frame for a brief moment. There was indeed _something_ she could do, but he did not dare consider it.

"I offered you a choice no one else will ever receive. I can make people do things they don't wish and I can make them want it." Her tone lowers offering up that secret, yet changes even more with her next ones. "I already have the _other_ signature I need."

And just like he felt the whole sky drop on his head. It wasn't necessary to ask _who_ she meant though he certainly needed too. "You'd be surprised," The look in her eyes immediately darkened as her fangs lengthened. "_How much fun I had_." And the grin she bore turned malice and evil and dark.

And somehow he knew exactly how serious she was and claimed to be.

_How much fun…._

She was making it look like a simple game when in truth it was anything but. It may be game, yet one where there was one and only one rule of engagement: mar your hands in blood and see to live on another day. A game without 'if' or 'but' since such words could never hope to exist within the imposed parameters governing a game played by so many and survived by a few.

His head drops, bangs covering the upper part of his face completely shielding his eyes from sight as his hands suddenly clench into tight fists and his whole body momentarily tenses in anger.

"We all survive. And do what we must to achieve it." Seras turn away yet before she can even take one single step strong arms encase her middle from behind pulling her flush against a hard chest.

"**Did he touch you?**" his words never more venomous and enraged as in that moment. His grip on her was hard and unyielding and so utterly tormented for she could feel the tremor within his shoulder and the tension in his muscles as he struggled with himself and his raging emotions. His right arm was firmly wrapped around her middle while his left cupped her right shoulder crushing her chest and his breath washed over the back of her neck like a shower of ice cold water. His teeth clenched tight and the pitch of his voice was dangerously low. His actions actually surprise her prompting a tiny squeak to pass her lips once her back is unexpectedly pulled to his chest. "**Answer me.**" He squeezes her tighter crushing her against him tenfold, his fingers digging into her flesh. "Did he **touch** you?" the turmoil raging within him easily getting out of proportion as did the hold on her bordering on pain by how hard he was squeezing. Did he touch her as he is touching her now? Did he harm her in any possible way? Could he have done….

"We do what we must." They are the only words she whispers and as soon as she does she regrets it.

"_**Tell me!**_" the prince shouts and something in his voice breaks forcing her to really listen to what he was desperately trying to find out, but could not bring himself to fully express. The broken 'please' hidden in that one cry. For he knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt exactly, what that man was capable of and what he could do. "I've seen him. The _man_ who hurt you." She tells him in a broken whisper of a voice that's surprisingly calm and dare he say it void of any pity he himself had all but expected to find. She'd given him a statement and nothing more. And had he looked at her now he would have found her stare to be just as void.

One or two moments more pass and his lips part ready to reply when she speaks before he has the chance to exhale and form the words. "_One who carved his name on __**your**__**skin**__._" Though you could hardly call him a man.

The world crashed on top of him stopping his heart in its tracks. All form of emotion other than utter shock faded form the prince's face in the wake of her words; words that struck far deeper than any blade ever could. A truth indeed carved into his very flesh. A wound and scar he had always struggled so hard to hide. The bastard may have carved them, but the young prince got rid of them as soon as he was able. He cut and carved into his own skin all the way down to raw flesh regardless of the pain and the blood until there was nothing left of that man's blasphemy. It would scar badly, and it had just a few weeks later, and it always made him feel somewhat self-conscious no matter the amount of scaring all the other beatings had left on his flesh.

"And yes, he tried." Seras then confesses instantly feeling him stiffen behind her once again as his head comes to drop atop her right shoulder as if defeated by her words. "So I broke his arm instead. And forced him to sign before making him forget and making him believe he chose it on his own." The pounding sound of his heart hit her between the shoulder blades over and over again quick and fast and fearful for what had happened….for what _could_ have happened….to her.

And just like that his grip on her waist looses to a comfortable embrace while the hand cupping her shoulder slowly moved up wrapping itself back around her throat instead. "Only a human may kill a monster." His fingers curl around her slender throat careful of the bruise left on her porcelain skin. "And no one in _this_ world will ever kill me." No one in that world or that time period. They were all savage monster without having to worry about Iscariot or any other member of the undead race. "No one will ever touch me without permission." She could break his arm right there and then if she wanted.

His breath was still warm on the side of her neck while slowly lifting his head, understanding filling his ocean blue eyes. But he didn't let go. Not yet.

"I am the last person in this world to fall pray to the greed and hatred of man." It was getting so much easier to understand that all the damage he had ever succeeded in causing her was because she allowed it to begin with.

"Why do this?" the rising flames in the distance were reflected in the twin pools of his eyes as he gazed forwards beyond her shoulder and the border of the rooftop they were sitting on.

Why do it for him? Why do this and so much more?

"Because those of us who know death and darkness survive it. We make the best monsters because we are the only ones who know how to control it." She slowly detaches herself from his embrace turning around to face him while his right hand continues to linger on her hip. "You are like me." The wind blew strongly moving strands of her golden hair almost like a hallo around their heads. She then offers him a kind smile bringing her right hand up to his face to briefly caress his cheek with the back of her fingers. "You would have made a great vampire." Sadness filled her eyes knowing that might never happen should history change because of her. He was already tainted. He could never be a vampire as she was. His only hope….was to somehow change on his own. Biting him would ruin him forever. "But you are an even greater man." So for now, she would continue to guide him and watch over him no matter what. Protect him…always.

"And the world will not forget you as long as you don't forget yourself."

"Tell me what I'm really asking." It could have been anyone else. Anyone else in the world for that matter. Why me? That question had been grading on his mind for a while now.

"Which answer would you prefer?"

"The truth." he carefully lowers the tone of his voice while turning away from her and everything she was standing for. He turns away from the flames just a few feet away and all that thick smoke just waiting to devour its next victim whole. "I don't want anything form you. I don't require sacrifices in my name." he never asked for her in the first place.

"Do you want death instead?" the hot red flames growing stronger and stronger.

"Maybe silence vampire." Silence to think and silence to understand what she was undoubtedly going to lay on his shoulders any second now.

"It took me a long time to find you again. After the fire and after that village burned down." Not all true and not a lie in itself, but at this point a partial lie fared much better than a partial made up truth. "Blood good enough for a promise." No sooner she speaks that both his hands and face suddenly feel warm and wet with a liquid trailing down his face in between his fingers. And when he gazes down at his hand to look at it, his entire palm and fingers are coated in a thick layer of crimson that trails down the length of his wrist and forearm and drips from his fingers and even his chin. Watching the blood flow he's suddenly bit by the intense, searing sensation of becoming numb that had accompanied said event all those years ago. His body reacted purely instantly in moving back a step panting hard while trying to escape the god forsaken image and memory.

He blinks and when his eyes fall back on his hand the blood is gone as if never there. His hand quickly returns to his face only to find it too perfectly clean and void of crimson or pain. The dull, throbbing headache that had once accompanied one certain blow.

"What are you doing?" he asks and raised his gaze from his hand to her face.

"Showing you what you've forgotten." Seras reaches out with her right hand towards his left temple tracing a long since faded and hidden scar behind the longer locks of raven hair that framed his face. "The promise I made."

Flashback

_Are you done yet boy?_

_Boot clad feet were the first to emerge from the darkness as he stepped into the light. The rest followed shortly and while he kept his head down and covered by own hood his right hand was pressed up against the middle of his chest holding something neither one of the two men could see._

.

.

_His left arm reached for the bundle of clothes as his fingers gently push the hood back revealing a small ball of white fur as pure as virgin snow. A tiny rope of a tail twitched as the pad of his index touched the soft and tiny head. Not long afterwards a patch of pale pink comes into view as two tiny triunghiular ears perked up and the kitten's bright sky blue eyes, large and round, opened meowing softly._

_"I'm sorry they hurt you."_

Flashback end

The same red, blazing eyes he now knew who they belonged to.

"They hit you hard, too hard." Her fingertips easily find and trace the few cm long mark hidden there. "You've forgotten me."

Flashback

_Two bodies landed with a thud amongst several rectangular barrels of hay…_

_._

_._

_Their legs were entwined with a pair of ghostly pale, long, bare, slender legs hugging black clothed ones in the cradle of her hips. One body atop the other as the boy pushed his weight onto his elbows and the haystack they had landed on, his head resting atop one slender shoulder as a small sigh fell into his left ear. Pure gold was cradled in the right crook of his neck and fanned out all around them while the elegant fingers of one hand grasped his shirt over his lower back almost like in a lover's embrace. The raven haired boy pausing in his actions before he slowly raises his head, right cheek bruising against hers, the majority of his raven hair falling over his left shoulder except for the long bangs covering his forehead which softly brushed the middle of her forehead. Flames from below seeped in between a few of the boards surrounding them casting a flicker of warm, orange glow over their bodies that made Seras's long hair shine like pure the gold it so closely resembled. The sound of burning hay filled the upper level, the straw like pieces crackling beneath the flames, and within the sound of light breathing was almost completely masked. The flicker of warm, orange flames that cast a glow over their bodies making that long hair shine like pure the gold it so closely resembled. Irises wide and red like blood staring up at him._

_._

_._

_The utter lack of warning when she cups his right cheek with a blood smeared hand and brings his face down to kiss him forcing a gasp to pass his lips and his eyes to go wide in surprise. But the kiss ends just as fast and she pulls away though their lips still maintain the minimum amount of space left between. All the while, the same eyes as red as blood mirror his blue._

_Eyes as red as blood…._

_Blood red._

Flashback end

The prince immediately pulls back with a gasp and another step, eyes wide in disbelief, while shaking his head slowly in sheer reflex and denial. No!

"I have no reason to lie." Yet he still backs up even though his back could find nothing to brace against for support. His hand moved back up to his temple cupping the left side of his face in remembrance of the rich warm crimson once coating his fingers and trailing down the side of his face in abundance from a blow that had come unimaginably close to ending his life. The road to Edirne hadn't been a pick nick and his stay there was utter hell for a long time until purgatory finally settled into his everyday life. And he caused the soldiers watching him as much grief as possible until one day the most temperamental of the bunch, and the one quickest to anger, basically snapped and...hit him.

And hit him hard he did, very hard.

"You wanted the truth."

"That's not possible." It couldn't be true. Despite the harsh resemblance one tiny creature had to another. Despite the uniqueness of those blood red eyes, the only ones he's ever seen in his life, it could simply not be. No. No. No!

"Why not?" she softly asks patiently waiting for his reply.

"Because…" he shouts dropping his head more and burying his other hand in his raven hair as well and gripping hard. Because….but the words fail him leaving him bare. "Because I….I…" Because it would mean….she had already been there. All along.

Meaning she could have….or couldn't have….changed everything from the start. But she didn't or couldn't. And he didn't know which answer he proffered and which one he didn't.

"No human will ever command a vampire. They lack the strength to govern themselves without greed and selfish desire. They lack the strength to face death in the eye without cowering in fear. That is why you. That is why I chose you when I firsts found you. You already were demon bread amongst men. I chose you because I knew you would understand. Because you would not look away from what I am as any other human in this world might. You are _Dragwlya_ and you fare in hell."

He never once stopped her or interrupted her until she said all that she had to. He listened to each and every word with the utmost attention.

"You say it so easily."

"You desired the truth." She looks him directly in the eyes holding his gaze like an impenetrable wall sturdy and unmoving in a raging storm. "The whole truth. If there is one thing I can promise you, a promise that will never waver until the day I die, I will never lie to you."

"People don't make such promises."

"I'm undead my master. And I can promise."

"And what am I supposed to give you in return?" he asks her and his eyes are filled with just as much torment as before though for far different reasons. Nothing was worth more to him than his life, his freedom. And for that he would pay anything. To find himself his own master at his own beck and call without the interference of other in his decisions, his mistakes or his successes. She was offering the world on a platter and he won't ever be able to repay such honest _kindness_. No one acted on another's behalf without desiring something in return. So selflessly and so genuinely.

Had they had this conversation before? Had they spoken like this before in the past?

_He hand bringing his face down to kiss him forcing a gasp to pass his lips and his eyes to go wide in surprise._

The kiss briefly flashes in his mind a second time. So they'd done that as well. Why? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember any of it.

"How about an understanding instead?" Seras proposes moving her arms still behind her back and a grin spread over her lips. The words easily sparked his interest in spite of how well he makes his emotions towards her into a more neutral expression trying to subdue the storm before it got out of hand. It takes him a few seconds more, but he eventually lowers his hands releasing his hair and decides to hear her out to the end. He was listening loud and clear despite the anger and despite hate of not understanding to the point of looking like a fool once more. An understanding beneficial for the both of them, he could accept that. And if not, he could at least offer her the courtesy of listening. "We could make a deal, you and I."

"And what would you like?" he asks with both skepticism and hesitation wishing to see if he was understanding her correctly. Everything else could wait. All the other questions quickly coming to life in his mind because of those moments he's all but forgotten. "My…life?" After all, there wasn't much else he could offer.

"Your blood." She corrects him. "And whatever comes with the offering of blood from a human to a vampire. When one shares blood, one shares more than just the water it's made of. To take a person's blood is to take that life into yourself. And blood never lies. Blood can't deceive."

"Anyone can deceive." It's his time to correct that particular choice of flawed words and educate her in the ways of the real world around them.

"True. But you are only human." Her eyes sparkle with a mischievous sort of glint he suddenly feels the need to stomp. Such a cocky little creature thinking she knew everything.

"**Try me.**" He's had enough of smug and arrogant bastards thinking themselves superior in every way. So his words come out rather aggressive and angry, hissing the words as if spitting poison from the tip of his tongue.

"**I will.**" Her eyes mimic his expression to the smallest detail adding only a smug flair of her own that down right pissed him off while she smiles so wickedly. His self control was slipping away as his fingers twitched by his sides struggling not to ball into tight fists. She just stood there in front of him grinning that conceited grin of hers with her hands so innocently held behind her back.

Damn it. And damn her.

"It's only fair since you've learned of mine."

"Not enough."

"There's always more to **fear** to **learn**."

"Then learn by yourself vampire. And leave me out of it." He moves to turn away and gather his thoughts before he said something he might regret.

"I would if that was what you truly desired." And yet she stops him halfway again prompting his hands to clench into tight fists and bury his nails into his palm to the point of almost drawing blood. And still his expression was neutral. Impressive, she had to give him that. He was trying so hard.

"And if I refuse?"

"Would you really?"

Damn it. He's unable to hold it in any longer so he shuts his eyes and bites down on his bottom lip striving to calm himself down as completely turns his head to the side and exhales deeply though the nose.

"Alright no." he shouts looking back a second later while moving one hand through his hair pushing his bangs aside." I won't. Are you happy now you bloodsucking leech?"

"That's hurtful master. I'm not that bad." She pouts further pushing on his self control.

"No just downright evil." The prince crosses his arms over his chest studying her intently. This vampire before him, she was a walking contradiction, one he didn't know how to handle most of the time

"When the time comes," Seras extends her right hand out to him in offering. "I'll have your blood. Nothing more and nothing less. When the time comes you'll freely offer me some of it in exchange."

"In exchange for what exactly?"

"Everything I will ever do for you. When the time comes, you'll see."

"Without ever knowing what you truly want?"

"I only want blood. Nothing more and nothing less."

"You lie." He smiles genuinely and happily for a second only and she can't help but reciprocity. "There is _something_ more. Something you're still keeping from me." Taking blood that meant taking that person's life into herself. Life and everything that came with it, memories included. If he gave her blood she would undoubtedly know a lot more than she already did about him.

"There might." She agrees crossing her arms under her chest instead. "But that is a discussion for another time my master. For now, I ask for you trust and offer mine in return. That is a fair deal."

"Yet one that somehow still leaves me lacking in what I might desire in return."

"I'm going to give you what you want tonight." She purposely pauses briefly prolonging the inevitable. "The chance at freedom free of their control. Life as you rightfully deserve it." Her words have an immediate effect on the harsh expression of his face softening it just a bit. "I've killed dozens in just on night. Why would freeing you be any different? I will stop at nothing."

"I'm a thorn they will always despise. You can't change that."

"_**Watch**__**me**_." The sheer strength and determination of her words culminating with the way her eyes narrow make him believe her. At the same time shadows begin to spring to life beneath her feet and crawl all around her boots. "I can make one little prince disappear with a lot less effort that it took to strike fear into their hearts. You think that night was bad, watch me now. I'll make sure they give you peace and leave you be. I will burn this place to the ground."

Why the hell was it so incredibly easy for her to reduce him into a pile of sheer dumbness with question that make him look utterly and completely stupid? All he could do was look at her in awe and desire to change his wish. To have her raw determination and confidence instead of his freedom if only for one night.

"Do you consent or not?"

The pause is long and tenant with nothing but the sound of roaring flames and rising ash between them. Then his eyes harden and his resolve strengthens in prequel to his definitive answer. It only took a moment for the whole world to tilt on its axis.

One tiny grain of sand to change it all. It was now or never.

**"**_**Do it**__._"

Whether he'll come to regret this or not.

**.**

**.**

To be continued...

Till next time, and my next chapter will be the last in the first half of this saga. Chapter 41 will be after a 15 year long time skip.


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 40**

Next chapter's up, and as I've said last time this is the last one before that 15 year time skip. I still recommend the same song I mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, should you wish to listen to it during the end. Also Barcelona - Please Don't Go, the last minute and a half or so of the song (3.20 to 4.30).

Enjoy.

.

Chapter 40

It was loud and almost dooming inside her mind breaking through the gentle silence she had come to know over the passed few minutes. Or had it been more than that?

Her last coherent thoughts were of blood. Sweet, warm, powerful blood running down the length of her throat coating her tongue in its rich taste and finally pooling in the pit of her stomach appeasing her ravenous hunger.

Then all thoughts were pushed aside by the violent explosion effectively waking her up. Debris flew everywhere and the noise hurt her ears.

Just darkness….for a long time before black and white slowly entered her field of vision first and then the unmistakable scent of her master's raven hair filled her lungs to the brink making her sigh unconsciously while brushing the tip of her nose against the underside of his jaw. Her eyes struggle more to open and once they finally succeed it's not darkness that's the first to greet her this time, but rather the licker of orange caught her attention. The two of them were moving along the rooftops, cold rain falling down on both of their bodies relentlessly once again surprising her that she didn't notice it first instead of everything else. His left arm held most of her weight against his chest curling around her slender waist just under her chest holding her tight while the right cradled the back of her knees. Her head was comfortably resting on his left shoulder in the crook of his neck despite the speed with which he ran. And when her fingers moved they curled around the fabric of his shirt and the wet, silken strands of his hair she realized that her right arm was draped over his shoulders and neck for support; the other hanging limp in her lap.

The booming noise continued to hammer above their heads drawing attention to itself. There were perhaps voices as well, but she was far too tired to pay them any heed or even acknowledge their existence. Her nose buried itself further into the crook of his neck, forehead cushioned against the wet raven mass , inhaling deeply in the form of a soft sigh.

She was just so tired…and the noise was getting louder...keeping her senses fully awake.

"They're coming." She finds herself whispering so very softly against the underside of his jaw not even noticing she's said the words at all. Yet somehow he seems to understand and his grip upon her waist tightens although she barely notices it. He runs faster and the raged sound of his harsh breaths drowns the all other background noises. She fades out of consciousness for what seems to be only a moment until consciousness kicked back with a vengeance with the sound of a tile forcefully broken from its spot on the roof and the sudden jerk of the prince's body as the same foot slips on the loose and wet piece of ceramic and he falls bashing his right knee in the process seconds. The roof top in question wasn't straight, unfortunately, and so the tile he broke caused others to falls as well until a whole section broke away and slid downward breaking upon impact with the ground giving away their position.

Pain immediately shot through the teen's body, his kneecap throbbing from the impact and stinging from having flesh rubbed raw in the process. He fell and in doing so almost dropped her, curling his body over hers, allowing a moment to pass to dull the burning sensation in his right leg as well as the unexpected stretch of his left from having slipped so suddenly.

The burning scent of wood and ash assaulted her nose next and it wasn't until then that her eyes opened more to the sight of the unfolding night, the raging storm and the out of control fire she herself had started not long ago.

"Mas…ter?" Her lips were soft and moist against the side of his throat despite not moving an inch. Damn it. His face is pained and his eyes briefly shut tight as the same moment passes, with a fresh cut running along the length of his left cheek and a tiny trickle of red from its edges as the rain drops washed most of it away. He sits up biting his lower lip rather hard as his knee momentarily fails under his own weight and his other leg struggles to stand straight on the slope of the wet roof where the tiles had once been. So he pushes again swallowing the pained grown that threatened to pass his lips and gets up wasting no more time before starting to walk again with a limp he could not hide for the first few steps.

"You went too far." He tells her tightening his grip on her waist as another step forced his teeth back into his lower lip and made him pause to his great regret. His next steps somehow hurt even more. And as he continued to walk into the darkness lights began to flicker bellow and several more were beginning to appear as small orange dots in the distance atop the rooftops.

"I'm sorry." Seras whispers back recalling the seconds before the explosion hit the study burning everything to a crisp. Not her intended plan considering the extent of the damage, but rather a miscalculation of what the rest of occupants of the citadel were ready to do and how far they were ready to go.

"What good are you dead?" it still hurts, but he manages to smirk if only a little.

"Not so much when you're already dead." She easily extracts herself from his arms coming to a stand in front of him. Despite the ever growing light from the fire, the darkness remained a comfort. Unfortunately, all those fallen tiles on the ground below were more than a clear indication someone had come that way. And just as he was carefully considering the next step, damned knee including, she spoke catching his attention once more as well as managing to appease the unsteady feeling growing inside of his chest

"Six are coming." It wasn't just the darkness anymore. And the battlefield below was a completely different and unfamiliar territory. A small hand gripped the back of his head, nails lightly scrapping his scalp and catching his attention. "We can go through the floor." She sais it as though it were a perfectly natural thing to do and with those words a crimson and black tendril emerges from the shadow under her feet snaking its path along the roof in front of him leading the way. Just a few step forward before stopping and forming a large swirling postal rimmed by crimson while utterly black in the middle. The prince starred in awe at the awaiting darkness, his blue eyes narrowing in consideration a few seconds later.

"Time is running out." She urges treading her fingers further through his raven hair. At this point she could have easily used a second tendril to encase his waist and urge him forward, but she chose to let him make the call on his own. She makes no move when his right hand reaches out for one of the stray locks of black mist surrounding them, moving around them, his fingers and palm easily sliding through the mass as if it were a simple cloud. The same mist that would sometimes pit him down and immobilize him with immense force, a force so strong and so utterly unlike that soft, simple cloud like substance he now took a moment to experience. Were he to step through he would be placing yet another part of his life in her hands. In the hands of a creature he did not yet fully understand and one he found himself wishing he could come to understand more. But time was running out and the lights were coming closer and getting bigger.

That portal could lead anywhere…even the awaiting embrace of death itself for all he knew. Shit.

_"This way. I'm sure I saw something moving."_

The damned voices in the distance weren't helping either. He'd been fighting death since childhood…this would be no different. And yet it was nothing like all those time before. Could he really…go that far? After everything?

His thoughts were interrupted by Seras's arms encouragingly tightening their hold around the back of his neck, her slender fingers moving ever so softly against the base of his hairline. Trust me…

It was such a god damn simple statement spoken so loudly without one single word to corrupt its innocent message.

Lights were coming closer and closer causing shadows to dance along the ground and still he wasn't moving. His eyes were closed and no longer looking at the portal in front of him, yet his head dropped and his bangs slightly moved to cover his eyes. There wasn't a single strand of gold left anywhere in the long silken mass.

"If you want me to kill them I will."

"Go do it then." Eyes opening, they narrow in determination not a second later as blue meets red in a silent showdown. He silently cursed all that he knew and steps forward moving passed with the same limp through pushing all other thoughts aside and emptying his mind of all things. Death would come all the way, she'd shown him that. So now, just like then, he would take control of both his life and his death and face it head on. If he was to die, then he would die when death was worthy of him and not when death wanted it. To hell with it. He'd already been striving to run towards freedom. It hardly mattered any longer in what form it came.

The portal welcomed him even as he took the first step over it without falling through. It waited as if testing if he was ready and closed behind him after swallowing him whole.

**.**

**.**

He only had a few minutes of freedom, only a few minutes after making it out with the scent of fresh, damp grass to fill his nose and comfort him thinking all would be well soon, when another explosion took place and the shockwave sent him flying through the air before crashing down on his knees and stomach with a vengeance. The fire blew out of proportion reaching over and around the weapons room igniting the newly acquired gun powder scattered all over the floor before quickly following a path of scattered powder directly to the multiple barrels staked in the farthest corner of the armory setting everything within the radius of that room aflame once the massive explosion started. His limbs hit the rough ground hard tearing the skin open, his already wounded knee especially, while his stomach hit a rock knocking the air out of him. He landed with a thud, though the sound barely had a moment's time to live before a loud cracking took over and the wall immediately behind them cracked under the force of the blast. The same wall that formed the back wall of the armory was only a part of the larger outer wall surrounding the citadel from the adjacent forest on its most southern side. There are but a few moments in between the time it takes the teen mobilize himself and look over his shoulder and his eyes to widen at the sight of the large imposing outer wall, 28 ft tall and 8 ft thick, crumbling down as if it were made of paper. Everything slipped from his mind with the exception of that deafening crunching sound as rock grind over ground and massive chunks came crashing down heading straight for him. It all went blank.

….

….

"M…..s…." the ringing in his ears was harsh and violent and came back with a vengeance booming into his skull. Dust filled his lungs hot and burning at his trachea and lungs with each breath he took. His chest felt heavy as though a great weight rested atop it and all he could remember was a faded scream and his hands moving up to shield his face. Was he on his side or on his back? He couldn't tell. The ringing went on and on hurting his ears in the worst possible way and it wouldn't stop. It seemed never ending. He was moving his arms, or was he? He felt unimaginably tired and cut off from the rest of the world.

"**Vlad!**" there was another scream, loud and clear cutting through all the noise and distortion like a knife, yet he heard nothing of it. The scream came with silence, sweet, blissful and innocent silence. For at least one mere moment before it started all over again. And it wouldn't be until later that he realized his right ear was bleeding while the left violently throbbed, that there was blood trickling from his nose and that the plates of his skull were fractured in the back with crimson slowly gathering under the nape of his neck. He never heard her call his name.

Red…bright and vibrant and so very much alive staring him down with concern and worry and so much gold. Soft hands were on his face holding his head up not that he could feel them and her elbows were embedded into the loose soil around his shoulders not that he could see them. His body had curled in on itself assuming fetal position to better protects itself and it wasn't until his mind began to clear that he began to recognize the weight on top of him as another body, _her body protecting him_.

His vision is blurred and he can't see her very well, yet he's fairly sure her lips are moving….not that he can hear her. The throbbing in his head grew in strength and intensity. The back of his head felt wet, though he couldn't be quite sure whether it was real or not.

There were rocks and debris and fire all around him, all around them, and thick black smoke rising towards the night sky from the charred ground and burning wood.

/_Run…/_ it was truly amazing how clear he was able to perceive those words above all that noise and constant, irritating screech grating at his mind. He was so dazed he didn't really notice her lips weren't actually moving as he though when those words softly reached his mind filled with as much worry and concern as her eyes.

/You need to run./

He could hardly move. How the hell was he going to run?

"_Run now._" She tells him out loud yet all he can hear is a faint whisper lost to the destruction all around them. "_I'll take care of you." _He didn't actually hear her very clearly.

Darkness was always so welcomed and desired. Now, however he didn't wish for his body to fall into its embrace. His lips tasted blood and his eyelids grew heavy by the second dropping in utter silence while the words spoken can't be heard or comprehended. Then….the air is suddenly so much cleared with his eyes opening to a deep inhale and the scent of fresh, undisturbed grass that refills his lungs instead of bitter smoke and ash. A crescent moon shone through the of dissipating clouds above his head partially illuminating his fallen form and the grass around him while an even brighter glow rose from the tree line nearby as the fire spread from the border of the citadel to the dense trees. The storm was letting up, but the fire was still glowing strong. Were he to turn his head, he would easily see the flames rise more and more and consume the green growing brighter and hotter despite the distance a few meter to this left.

His body had gotten use to the heat and the dust from the blast and so the very first drop of rain upon his left cheek felt colder than ice as he lay there mostly on his right side with his face halfway buried in long strands of fresh grass ears, knees and forearms bleeding. One drop then another and another, despite the rain beginning to stop, until the ice cold sting of the raindrops engulfed his body completely drenching him to the bone in that final reprise. His eyes were halfway lidded and he couldn't find the strength to move any more than that. His head hurt to bad and it was better to just lie there; better and so much easier.

_Run…._

There was a tiny part of him that wanted to comply. To get up and run and leave everything behind. Away from the fire and the rain and the last six years of his life.

A dying flash of lightning wiped through the sky illuminating the sky. Rain poured down at an even faster and harder level, the droplets large and heavy as they peppered his whole body. Thunder rolled like a low pitched growl above his head covering him almost like a blanket keeping the numbness and the sleep at bay.

/_You need to get up_./

He blinks inhaling deeply, the weight on his chest suddenly gone, and when his eyes open anew there's a tiny white kitten with the largest blue eyes staring back at him while halfway buried in the dark green grass right in front of him, her small tail up and wiggling behind her while her head rested atop her front paws.

/Get up master./ the voice kept on speaking rolling inside his mind putting his ears at rest. Warm and soothing just like the gentle purring that softly started. /You can't stay here./ her soft looking fur was soaked much like his own clothing, but that didn't seem to stop the tiny being from leaning forward to rub the top of her head against his right cheek. /He's coming to get you. You'd better run./

He smiles if only briefly and weakly.

'He's coming for you…' great. That was the last thing he needed. Who ever the hell 'he' was, not that it mattered much anyways. The grass was too good to move from regardless of how wet and cold it was becoming. Regardless of the still spreading fire nearby that could easily change direction any second and find them.

/Time to wake up./

Couldn't she just stop? And for that matter, wasn't she human just a moment ago? Weren't there rocks under him and debris all around instead of simple grass and water? When had that changed? Why was he on his back and not on his stomach? And was that his blood on the tip of his tongue? When did he hurt himself?

His eyes close anew following the gentle hum of the kitten's constant purring. He could hear the whispers, faint and distant like the sound of the wind passing through the trees. The sound of her voice all he could focus on wishing to be able to reply more than the pitiful one syllable word he found himself able to eventually utter.

Breathe in, breath out…

Breathe in….

At least he felt at peace for however long it lasted. Listening to every word she spoke.

Breathe in….breathe out….

As the minutes ticked by.

Breathe in….

Breathe out…

/**Wake up!**/

Just one shout and his eyes instinctively snap open to the sound of his own name being called out in the distance. The grass still wet and fresh, rain still cold and pouring…the kitten gone with nothing but a final whisper to linger in the back of his mind and a final caress from one disappearing black tendril of pure black mist.

"Vlad!" Ian shouts in desperation at finally having found him after more than an hour of searching and god knows what else in between. Running around for his life, then falling unconscious then waking up….the list went on. Eventually, with everything burning around him, he gave up and sought to at least find a means of transportation to get the hell out of there. Horses were after all faster than his own two feet so finding the prince should presumably be easier this way. The hell it was. Fist he couldn't find any and once he did, it came down to an old nag and an out of control youth. Despite all his best intentions, he was having trouble keeping the two horses under control during his search. The younger horse tied to his, a young Frisian with a black coat and a very nasty temper, kept pushing and pulling at the mare trying to break free slowing her down. So under the circumstances, not the very best choice considering the young stallion had less than two weeks of training, but it was the best he could find. As for the other horse, his grey mare, she was old with a bad leg and a limp in her walk and a bleeding wound in her left shoulder from a stray piece of flying wood caused by the explosion. It was all he could find once the roof of the stables caved in on most of the horses killing them on spot. He didn't have the time to run all the way across the vast courtyard and pathways to the other stable on the other side of the citadel. The only thing he had time for was getting those horses and nothing more. He was already galloping though the surrounding forest by the time the violent explosion took place.

The teen quickly dismounts upon discovering the prince lying down on his right side a few feet in front of him, alone and clearly injured, and rushes to his side helping him up. The latter however was still hesitating, his blue eyes fixed on the spot the white kitten had stood in with the taste of blood still lingering on the tip of his tongue. Was that blood? Or was it perhaps….he vaguely recalled her mentioning something about the power of a vampire's blood…but what? Besides, the mere though alone was beyond ludicrous to begin with. There wasn't a point to thinking in that sort of direction. It wasn't as if a vampire would really give….blood…to a human, right?

"Jesus where the hell have you been?" Ian tries to pull him up by his left upper arm managing to just barely force him in a sitting position. "Vlad." He says placing his hand over his right forearm finally succeeding in drawing the prince's attention and his eyes on him. Yet once they did, there wasn't anything there to gaze at other than a completely blank expression lost in a sea of blue. The sight briefly startles the teen especially after the prince fail to respond a second time to both his words as well as the grip on his arm.

Why wasn't he coming? Why wasn't he moving?

Another smaller explosion in the distance forces the teen to tear his gaze from the raven haired boy and look at the brightly shining orange flames rising higher towards the heavens. "Damn it." He whispers knowing more than half of the citadel was surely on fire by now by the looks of those flames and with the cold rain soon coming to a stop the heat was causing the upper most layer of the walls to turn red.

Still silent and still unresponsive even in the face of that explosion and it worries the second teen even more. It takes him a moment, but after a brief moment of consideration his lips briefly sketch a smile coming up with a thought that might actually help. "Your demon's good." He only meant it as a joke, but the look in the prince's eyes didn't change. Not one bit. He didn't even smile or offer a single word in return. Still cold and unwavering like a marble statue.

"Vlad!" Ian grips both his upper arms hard shouting his name and forcing the teen to look him in the eyes finally catching his attention as if waking him up from a deep trance. Yet when the latter finally blinks, his eyes appear even more empty and distant than before. Like staring into an empty shell hoping to find and see its center in vain. "We have to go." But the prince does not offer a word when freeing himself from Ian's grip and surprisingly, pushing himself up on his feet without a hint of regard towards the crimson seeping from the deep abrasions on his limbs or the intense throbbing of one badly injured knee. He get up and marches over to the two horses with a limp in his right leg, a trail of blood on the grass left there with each step and not one single word or sound. He doesn't think twice when choosing the poorly trained black stallion over the more docile grey mare. His right hand extends for the leash of his reins in a purely automatic way driven by instinct alone and not a bit of logic or common sense.

"Wait." Ian tries, but the prince doesn't wait and he doesn't listen. And he mounts the horse regardless of the danger or the disability in his leg, mounting without a second glance or a word and pulling on his long wavy mane to steady himself up on his back and control the spirited creature trying to force him off the very second he tried to do so. The stallion bucked startling the mare as well snapping the shabby piece of rope tying them together at the reins.

"Stop." The words reach the teen's ears who isn't quite sure he heard clearly until the prince suddenly screams **'Stop**.' so loud he puts the rolling thunder above their heads to shame. The stallion stops bucking and neighing. He stops moving altogether and nickers stomping his left hoof against the wet ground twice, his ears moving back obediently. It usually took two grown men to settle the creature and that on a good day. The prince accomplished the feet it in barely a few minutes.

"Vlad?" Ian calls again barely managing to speak up before the latter interrupts him baring not one trace of emotion in his tone of voice.

"_**Get on**_**."**

_Get up master. Time to get up. _

His eyes continued to hold that utterly emotionless look, though for a moment, Ian thought he saw something more.

Ian only nods quickly complying while remaining otherwise silent. There wasn't any point in asking any more questions like where he'd been or how he'd gotten there. The prince wouldn't be answering any of them for sure. The mare is docile and easier to mount, though a little startled by the violent storm and the harsh booming thunder. She would have made a far better choice, but at this point in time he was beyond questioning the young prince's actions.

"Look, about before…." He then tries to reason with the prince without success while the latter merely pulls on the stallions mane and reins to turn him around after which he urges the horse forward thus leaving him behind.

"Damn it." Ian curses quick to follow and run back up to his own horse. "Will you wait! Vlad!"

He doesn't. He urges the black stallion to run faster and faster until he's galloping at full speed through the many surrounding trees.

_Get up master. Time to get up. _

His eyes close while urging the stallion to ride even faster, the wind cold and the subsiding rain wiping at his face. He needed to run. He needed to forget.

Flashback

_"You can't stay here." The kitten affectionately nuzzled the right side of his face whispering so that her words did not harm his mind. She kept talking to keep him from falling asleep and to keep his thoughts off the blood on his tongue, blood that was not his to begin with. In spite of her best efforts the explosion hurt him and badly at that. She was trying to keep his mind off the fact that he had a fractured skull from a blow to the back of his head she was too late to prevent: a skull base fracture resulting in edema starting to put pressure on the brainstem slowly slowing down his heartbeat and breathing. She was silently urging the sample of blood she'd give him to work faster and heal him without any sever repercussions. She didn't ask him, before entering the coffin, whether or not she could and whether or not she should. And now that she had, she could only wait and see what happens. Pray…nothing went wrong. _

_"You must get up and run. Run when the time comes."_

_He was 17 years old. He was too young to die. Especially regarding circumstances she didn't know of. This explosion….it didn't happen in the past. He didn't warn her about it. And she didn't know what to do to help him. _

_He was 17 years old and she should have already been placed on the throne of his country even if it came at the hands of the very people who enslaved him. A reign that would not last long yet should have still happened either way. It was already close to the middle of November and she should have ruled since early august at least. _

_Was it because of her? Was it her fault? Had things changed this way because of her interference? Because of her being there and her interference?_

_"You need to go where you'll be safe." Bit by bit she felt his mind slip away and his breaths become shallow. Not good. Stupid blood that wasn't working. "Please wake up." She whispers purring just a tad louder rubbing the top of her head against his cheek listening to him breathe._

_Breathe in…._

_Breathe out….. _

_Her purring all but stopped for that one second she felt his mind stir back into life and caught wind of a fragment of a thought; a thought contemplating the words she just spoke moments ago. There wasn't a place he could go to be safe. The concept of 'safe' did not exist for him. Not in the way she was offering._

_She would have to be sneaky about it. And reach out to his subconscious to subtly implant the idea in his mind and bypass reasoning that told him otherwise. He needed to go there, to Moldavia, and seek refuge in the home of the last of his bloodline despite his pride. He had to even if it made look weak and cowardly for running the way he would. He had to even if it cost his pride to do so._

_"Run to Moldavian, to your uncle, he will keep you safe. Trust me."_

_Breathe in…._

_Breathe out…._

Flashback end

He wanted to be free. …

His shut tight forcing the horse further.

He wanted freedom….if it cost him everything. He wanted peace and utter silence from his own words and his own thoughts.

"Vlad wait!" Ian screamed in the background riding atop his own horse. "Wait up!"

"_Run…."_ The prince tells the horse holding onto his raven hair mane with such strength it turned his knuckles white from the effort. "_**Run damn you!**_" he shouts though the words are not meant for the young Frisian stallion. They're meant for himself.

_**Run….**_

He had to run. He had to do it.

Just like she asked….

Flashback

_"Trust me." _

_**Why?**_

_She easily picked up his broken thoughts as his mind cleared more and more making her happy. It was working. Her blood was working. And his eyes were slowly coming to focus back on her face._

_"I want you to be safe." _

_**Why?**_

_His blue eyes lazily blink open a little more with a bit of effort and one deep inhale as the throbbing in the back of his head let down offering him peace. Her tiny tail immediately began swaying in joy when his eyes finally met hers once again. "I'm here…"_

_The words just slipped out before she realized and she purred louder so incredibly happy. She just wanted him to know she was there and would always be there. Faithfull at his side and unwavering like the roots of ancient trees deeply implanted within the ground._

_/These men will look for you if you don't./ he hurt badly, yet still found the strength and clarity to hate the truth of her words. He had to get up. He knew that much on his own. /Get up my master. Fight./ _

_The fire in her eyes shone so bright, brighter than the flames once surrounding them, and he once again found himself humbled by the devotion and courage they offered. _

_**Fight…**_

_She made it sound do easy when if truth it was anything but. _

_/You will get up and run. When Ian comes, you will get up and run./_

_Humbled and wondering again, how she could be so strong? And so unwavering in the face of such destruction and despair._

_/__**Or I will kill you myself.**__/_

_It was weak. Yet he smiled nonetheless. Just a small upward curl of the right corner of his mouth while taking another deep breath to clear his mind further. It was getting better and his body stopped feeling as heavy. _

Breathe in…

Breathe out….

_It was getting better._

_/Run. Even it costs you your pride./ She would return it no matter what._

_"No…" his reply is still weak and his tone of voice horse and shallow….broken. _

_/Yes./ she urges and he's suddenly confronted with the fire in her eyes at a whole different level. They grow larger and wider flanked by gold instead of silver while soft fingers caressed his right cheek. /Now run. And don't look back./_

_The crimson in her irises burning brighter and stronger urging him own giving him strenght._

_Her thumb brushes over his lips to a sound he can't hear approaching from a distance._

_Breathe in…._

_Breathe out…_

_It was easy and simple enough a task to perform._

_Breathe in…._

_Breathe out…_

_To the sound of strong hooves hitting the ground as twin horses galloped closer and closer. _

_/Run./_

_Breath in…._

_To the feel of her lips chastely touching his whispering….._

_Breath out…._

_/__**Wake up!**__/_

Flashback end

Run and leave everything behind.

**"Run!" **he shouts again letting the sound of his voice echo loud and clear amongst the many surrounding trees he passed by in a blur. his long, wet, black hair swaying behind him in the process.

It wasn't his pride.

And it wasn't hatred.

"Vlad wait!" Ian shouts one final time falling way behind the young wild stallion by at least two and a half feet, the distance growing by the second. He was going to lose him. "You fool wait." His only hope was if the prince did not turn his horse to the left and run back towards the burning citadel. But with the distance growing more and more he wasn't sure he could trust the shadow in the distance his eyes could no longer see. It was too dark amongst the trees and the horse too quick.

Damn it.

They had no papers and the citadel was burning.

They would be hunted down within a day, the rain already soothing the raging fire to dull cinders soon to fade away completely.

And after that vengeance…swift and brutal.

They were doomed to fall with the rising sun.

"Come on." The pushes his own horse forward hoping to catch up to the prince.

_**Run… **_

It wasn't his pride.

And it wasn't hatred.

_**Run…**_

He was angry at himself, himself and his own weakness.

_**Run….**_

He was angry….for being _human_.

His hands hurt from grasping so tight, but he didn't let go.

His lungs wished to scream his agony to the world, but he stayed silent.

_**Run…..**_

Those very flames would burn bright throughout the night.

With lingering thoughts as to whether he would ever come close to seeing her again.

Lips hot and moist while whispering….

"We were in a fire once before."

And showing….

Flashback

_Their legs were entwined with a pair of ghostly pale, long, bare, slender legs hugging black clothed ones in the cradle of her hips. One body atop the other_

**.**

_Her hand bringing his face down to kiss him forcing a gasp to pass his lips and his eyes to go wide in surprise._

Flashback end

While her hand tenderly cupped his cheek bringing their faces closer, the warmth of her breath ghosting over his lips.

"And you once knew my name."

Flashback

_The kiss broke the moment the golden haired woman gasped for air against his lips and turned her head away to the right. Her irises utterly pain stricken and when they opened anew, they did so to crimson tears leaking down her temples._

_The smoke all around them dark and heavy as it rose from below at a steady undisturbed pace that grew by the minute and covered the ceiling in a thick black layer._

_"It' alright…" the prince whispers as softly as possible though his eyes take on a more mature look as freckles of red seep into the dark blue pools of water. His hand caressed her cheek while turning her head to face him and wiping the trickle of blood of her skin._

_"It's alright…(__**draculina**__)…"_

Flashback end

Only to never hear it. Not one. Not even after witnessing the movement of her lips and speaking that one word to follow beyond the simple 'it's alright'. But he doesn't hear it. He can't hear it.

_It's alright…_

It had always been just 'Childe' from the beginning. The mere thought that he once knew a name beyond that. That he was once familiar with a name to match the strength and resolve this creature held. But he doesn't hear it. He can't hear it.

_It's alright…._

What was alright? What was he saying? What were his lips saying? What was the word they were whispering full and most after kissing her like that?

**What the hell was alright?**

He couldn't remember. He couldn't recall when it happened.

**And it hurt. **

_"We can't go back." _

No, they couldn't. Not now. Not ever. The sandglass was already empty with no one there to turn it back around.

He could only go forward. He could only run ahead and never look back.

For if he did…

_**Rule well…..my master….**_

The pain would never stop.

**.**

**.**

Human.

_Just_…._human_…..

And the bitter truth would hurt so much more later on when he was safe in the house of his bloodline. When freedom was in his hands and at his doorstep whenever he stepped out of his room and house and whenever he returned with the setting sun.

It would hurt tenfold, with a sort of heart wrenching agony that never stopped, when the black bandages wrapped around his injured body all dissolved leaving him in perfect health: his back, his spin and his knee. But the worst one, and the hardest blow to his heart, would forever be the disfiguring scar over the right side of his lower back that not only completely vanished in the wake of her touch, but offered him a second gift in exchange. For when the black bandage dissolved a piece of perfectly white paper fell from the surface layers covering his stomach and landed in front of his feet. That one fragile piece of parchment to forever ensure his freedom, incontestable freedom, and future reign for the rest of his life. The scar was gone. The scar forever marring his lower back was gone and skin perfectly smooth and unblemished as if a knife had never been brought to it to desecrate its perfection and carve blasphemy into his flesh.

And in the wake of the silence of that particular night, under the watch of a full white moon whose light seeped in through the window of his room with his fingers tightly clutching at that one small piece of paper, one single tear was shed glittering in the moonlight as it trickled down his left cheek and feel forgotten to the floor. The first in 6 horrid years and the last for the rest of his life once the full ramifications of said paper as well as her actions hit home.

The soft, warm fabric banished without a trace taking everything from his. Taking the last fragment that reminded him of…._**hope**_….away.

All that remained were insignificant black words written down on a once blank sheet of paper with two distinct signatures at the very bottom, one black and one red, as the red that had once marred his back.

.

His first night of freedom…

Yet heaven was forever lost. And never to be found again.

**.**

**.**

To be continued….


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 41**

I apologies for the late update, but I simply didn't have the time to look over the chapter these last two weeks or so. As I pointed out last time, this chapter holds a 15 year time skip, so a lot will be different from now on in regards to the relationship Vlad and Seras will have.

here we go. Enjoy.

.

.

Chapter 41

A cave…

He fell down a cave….

Perfect….could the irony be any more ridiculous than that?

Flashback

_The trees finally parted opening up the way towards the accenting pathway that led up a steep hill towards an isolated part of the forest and from there an even steeper and less traveled, thinner pathway overlooking a 10 foot drop down the steep mountain side. Both his long raven hair and crimson scarf fluttered behind him in the cold morning air, the sun barely up for a few minutes since the beginning of his midnight excursion through the forest…plotting and planning the demise of others in night while running guerrilla tactics in the middle of the forest. Blood splatters marred the front of his tunic and face, his knuckles were bruised and raw from the individual hand to hand fights and his sword lay within a bloody sheath without being wiped. All this while his large, black stallion running at high speed dashing through the forest while being pursued by 4 others riders, two of which caring a second person armed with lethal bows on their respective horse. _

_Just your everyday night….for the last three weeks or so. _

_It was the same route and the same scenario time and time again and it almost cut the thrill of the entire experience…almost. By now, it had had turned into a game….deadly at that…but a game nonetheless. And he was by far the winner._

_This stroll of his though the dark forest, it would soon come to an end. Sunlight was just beginning to rise beyond the horizon partially seeping though a crack in between the large mountains in the distance that blocked the view of the horizon's line from where he stood._

_It was so easy. And they were following like cattle with just the right incentive. _

Flashback end

Apparently not.

The prince sighs whilst looking up at the whole though which he fell from.

Here he was, 15 years later in his life, and he was still running.

Ironic, wasn't it?

Levees fell through the whole with him partially covering it and even as the noise continued to rumble above his head. Pulling the scarf off his face the prince gets to his feet scanning the surrounding area. The only light that shown in came from above illuminating only one part of the cave and by the looks of it he fell into a large chamber and landed on a ledge several meters above a pool of water filled with deadly, sharp stalagmite. Just a little off and he would have missed the edge of the ledge entirely and fallen in. A narrow path led away from the ledge crisscrossing the cave's wall before reaching the floor below and crossing it was not going to be easy especially nothing to hold onto other than the wall itself.

Yes the irony was bitter to taste. And to think it could have bee avoided if he only chose to dismount his horse and let it run free at a different point in the forest atop that damned hill with caves. They were excellent in deceiving the enemy and even better at luring them into his trap and now, regrettably, he fell into one of his own traps. Well more or less. He didn't even know something as grand as this cave existed under his feet the whole time.

No matter. There wasn't any way to go back now. The ceiling was too high to reach from his position and covered in large stalactites handing down from around the mouth of the whole like teeth. And he couldn't jump in the pool below so that option too was out of the question.

A shame though, that he had to put the game on hold. Those men won't give up the chase all too soon. They'll follow the horse and the many breadcrumbs he's left throughout that particular part of forest. No matter. They'll either die or somehow manage to evade and live another day. And the game would go an as it had for all these years. No need to worry or ponder the subject any further. For now, he had another matter to deal with.

His gaze went back down to the ledge he stood on and the thin path opened to him away from it. Might as well get started.

Small pebbles crackled under the heels of his boots as he moved forward slowly begging to climb down along the narrow path one careful step at a time until he found solid ground once more. He almost slipped at few times, though only one came close enough to actually falling to his dead on the spikes below. His hands bled from the effort of holding himself up and pulling himself back up over the ledge of the path and he marred the crystal clear water of the virgin pool below by tainting it as the crimson of his blood seeped into the blue like drops of ink snaking their way through. There was only one other path away for the pool and to reach it he would have to circle the water first. Following the path meant going deeper to fin a way out and that in turn meant moving away from the light and going blind into unknown territory. Several discarded animal bones lined the floor despite the depths he found himself in. Broken bits and pieces thrown about everywhere from had once been living in that cave. Dust and dirt covered them and his boots left deep impressions in the soil, the only ones to enter in a long time. Perhaps this cave was indeed uninhabited, but he'd be a fool not to consider the alternative possibility.

Strange occurrences happened around that part of the woods and stranger still atop that very hill he had fallen from making it the reason few dared to actually venture this way. Many rumors were born and far less actually held any shred of truth. Folklore mostly, born and bread out of fear and lack of knowledge, proof or understanding. Perhaps this time, he'll actually find a shred of truth amongst all that fear. And he could see the rumored demons first hand. Maybe even a….vampire…

Or a tiny white kitten that continued to linger somewhere in the back of his mind through out the years.

_The cell is your country and that girl your people. _

_Rule well, my master._

Maybe, just maybe, he'll find her again as promised. And hear the forgotten sound of her voice instead of just her words. Words that helped shaped his life in a way he never would have thought possible. So much silence.

15 years now. 15 long years passed since that night, since he's last heard the sound of her genuine voice softly whimpering encouragement into his ear.

_Rule well._

There were so few voices he could acknowledge to knowing and trusting over the years, just broken fragments scattered over time. But hers…he's had difficulty forgetting along with the subtle fanged grin that sometimes followed those very words. A scent he could not remember and a voice he struggled too unsuccessfully recall.

15 years. A time that certainly meant and were absolutely nothing to her. A time without change and without age. She hadn't aged a day whereas time loosely passed him by in body, mind and soul. To him everything changed and was still changing.

He remembered. How could he forget?

So the only question that mattered and remained was, would she?

Would she remember him where their paths ever to meet again?

Would she still look the same?

The cave was dark the further he went and going blind wasn't an option any longer there was barely any light left. So he went back and picked up a broken piece of bone found on the floor, a ripped piece of cloth from his own sleeve and some dried up, discarded levees along with a piece of flint he always carried on his person to make a makeshift torch providing him the necessary light he would need to push on. The flames cast an orange glow illuminating the dark bed rock around him, the air stale and dusty and ever so silent with the exception of his own footsteps and the flicker of the torch.

1-2 minutes into his walk became five, then ten and 15 the path continued on deeper into the cave until the many empty chambers peppered in the bed rock grew wider and he finally came across the opening to the larges room so far second only to the grotto he first fell into. And it was empty and barred just like the rest. Strange, considering all the bones found at the start of his exploration. He had at least expected something to crawl out of the darkness and attack him at some point. A wolf or a bear at least. And yet, there was hardly anything there with the exception of a few piles of rocks scattered across the floor and a few more in the distant corner from where he stood. This had been the only path he found while circling around the pond in the main chamber. The only one so he followed by, but the cave itself seemed to be nothing more than a big tomb without a way out. And those bones, they were probably just like him: lost and isolated, with company only when death chose to finally greet them.

He took the time to search this chamber just like the rest slowly walking around scanning everything. That one pile of rocks barely reaching up to mid calf remained the sole element to catch his attention the entire time. He had nothing to loose in tipping the stack, yet when he reached it he couldn't help but think it over a second time. They were too neatly stalked to seem natural, just a little. But the though was enough to push his instincts into pausing. So instead of tipping the rocks with his foot he moved to kneel beside them and set his torch upward in the crack between 2 solid small boulders next to it. One by one he picked up the stone putting them aside and…

_I sleep during the day…_

He didn't quite know what prompted that certain memory to randomly pop up as it did, yet as soon as it had his hand stilled on the final rock for a bit longer before removing it slowly and carefully.

15 long years and there it was. There was a vampire. There she was.

The rock slipped from his fingers before he even noticed and the thump echoed all around. Yet still she slept remaining perfectly still and unmoving.

15 years and she jut pops up unexpectedly like a flash of lightning.

Was this fate?

_The ground gave in so easily under his feet for no apparent reason._

He couldn't help but think differently. Was this maybe something more?

It was almost sweet looking down at the tiny thing in front of him for the first time in so many harsh years. Sweet, were it not for the fact he knew exactly what she was beneath the innocently looking costume of one tiny baby kitten.

Snow white fur peeked from under the pile of remaining rocks surrounding her much like a fortress resting atop a piece of ripped red cloth. His first instinct was to reach out and touch the small creature. Stir her awake and have those impossibly large blue eyes meet his own again just to see if she remembered, if she was the same. However, just as he was about to do it, he stops and reconsiders in the last moment just like he did before. The kitten slept so silently he didn't immediately notice the rise and fall of her small chest. The odds that she could something else seemed slim and vague…what could something so indescribably fragile do within a cave such as that?

_I sleep during the day._

Chances were she wouldn't wake up soon with the sun having already risen.

Moving slowly he sets the torch down in an upward position between two rocks he takes the time to remove and reposition first and then takes the hidden knife he pulled from inside his left boot to his right hand making a nick in his skin then watching as the crimson began to flow and gather in the middle of his palm. The knife was the one he'd been carrying around for years, the one he once stabbed her with. The blade a bit chipped and the handle in need of repair, but that would mean changing something of hers and he wanted none of that however foolish it sounded. It was the only weapon to rip through someone's heart without killing the intended victim. It was special and it was hers and it had saved his life on more than one occasion over the years since then. He would not part with it. Nor change it.

Closing his fist he slowly brings his bleeding hand up and over the kitten's muzzle letting the rich crimson drip onto her muzzle one droplet at a time.

One moment passed, then two and three before the tip of one tiny triangular shaped ear twitches and an equally small pink tongue peers out lapping at the sweet offering without yet opening her eyes or making a sound single. Only the small twitch of her left ear broke the monotony of the moment.

As he said, _almost_ sweet.

The thought barely passed though his mind and as soon as it did he felt a crushing blow to his chest and back and a sudden violent throbbing arose in the back of his head from having collided with hard bedrock. Al the air was momentarily pushed out of his lungs and the flame of the torch threatened to go out completely momentarily casting the whole chamber in darkness.

"_Sweet as can be._" The words are hissed and purred into his left ear at the same time like the sweetest honey dripping off the tip of her tongue. 15 long years and the sound of her voice ripped through his body as it had all those years before when he was still a teenager trapped within the confining walls of Edirne. The sound still commanded him to somehow listen and obey….and breath easy at the same time. Nothing could hurt him as long as she was there and did not hurt him herself.

One second passed then two then three before his mind is capable of regaining his senses from being pushed back against the wall form the pile of rocks he'd been kneeling besides. Air slowly slipped back into his lungs as soft hair briefly caressed the left side of his throat and shoulder, long and flowing and golden like the sun just like he remembered. The curls small and elegant and wavy like his own flowing down the slope of her back and her slender shoulders like a beautiful veil. He knew without seeing that she was grinning, her lips so close to brushing his skin.

"So silent a heartbeat." She whispers bringing up and old memory from his past.

1 second, then 2, then 3 and a sound not heard in 15 years filled the entire space around them once again.

_**Thud…thud…thud…**_

The melody spread throughout the large open chamber engulfing it completely. "Have I taught you nothing?" she chuckles bringing her fangs closer to his skin purposely offering him a taste by running them along his jugular. "Never wake a sleeping vampire." She pauses just enough to bring her right hand over his chest were his heart lay under his clothing and brush her fangs over the shell of his ear like old times. "Never offer your blood. It always ends badly."

She slowly pulls away as the shadows cast by the torch dance across the room flickering strongly back into life. The prince remained quite choosing not to answer her directly or immediately for the time being. His head lens down and his gaze focuses on the movement of her yellow hair, cast a darker gold by the flames of the torch dancing around her. It was like watching the shadows of his memory come back to life to haunt him after so many long years of utter silence. Déjà vu of the smile he sometimes pictured when words she might say simply popped in his mind during random discussions. Déjà vu as he sometimes tried to picture her smile and eyes and hair in the dead of night when exhaustion left him too tired to think of anything else and too numb to the world around to him to care. Such a pity his memory hadn't been able to do her much justice.

15 long years…he'd forgotten her face.

"I'm hurt." She chuckles while pulling back and he can't help but smile in return however small the tiny upward curl of the right corner of his mouth was. How he'd missed it. "To be so easily forgotten." At the same time she tilts her head enough to look back over her left shoulder towards him. For a moment he's unsure how to answer and reply her while facing such an accusation so he just watches her walk away committing the image to his in a second sense of déjà vu. How easily she manipulated words, words he merely though of and never spoke as if reading his mind.

"Now I _am_ hurt. You've forgotten." Her smile grown wider proving she truly was taking amusement in his predicament, relishing in the mistake he had just made. In the blink of an eye she's standing in front of him one more, those familiar whiffs of black smoke surrounding the locks of her golden hair. She's so small standing there in front of him with the difference in their height so much more pronounced than before. The last time he saw her he only towered over her by a few cm, his forehead at most, now the top of her head only reached his chest ending at the base of his throat. Small and fragile now more than ever.

/I can see into your thoughts./ she projects into his mind grinning brightly exposing her pearl white fangs to his curious gaze to prove her point, her lips not making one single sound. /Have you really forgotten?/

_**No.**_

The thought quickly flashes through his mind and the already wide grin brought upon her lips softens. No he hasn't. But it's been a lifetime since anyone spoke to him like that. Already anticipating his answers or proving them worthwhile no matter what they were. His blue eyes looked her over no longer showing confusion or surprise. Recognition shone brightly, a look 15 long years had not washed away.

"Still so silent a heartbeat." Seras repeats her earlier statement allowing the thumping sound within the room to slowly dwindle until it withered and died down completely.

"Not silent enough apparently." The prince replies adamant in his study of her face. Taking in each and every lost detail and knowing that every sketch ever made of her in an effort to remember her never came close to the actual beauty of her face.

"It can be arranged." Her grin turns mischievous while her eyes flash red. The torch died out completely casting them in darkness as she smiles and her body fades away into nothingness.

Ah yes, that smile.

And how utterly typical to leave him there stranded and alone in the wake of her actions. The least she could have done was get him out. Selfish vampire.

She was going to pay for that.

_Master…_

A tendril suddenly coils around his waist…..

Strangely, he could almost call it a caress.

**.**

**.**

The fire crackled in the fireplace, 4 logs burning consumed but he large orange flames, the center red and yellow moving as one, heath and warmth filling the study.

One page was turned, then another and another, the sound echoing throughout the otherwise silent room in a repetitive rhythm at regular intervals. The prince sat in his armchair by the fire, right leg crossed over the right wearing black breeches, his black knee high riding boots and a white dress shirt with long sleeved, the neckline opened in a v at the base of his throat down to the middle of his sculptured chest leaving it bare. His hair was pulled back to the side into a loose ponytail draped over his right shoulder while tied low with a crimson ribbon. His bangs fell loosely over his forehead, the longer strands framing his face without being tied by the ribbon.

"Amusing." Light chuckling echoes behind him prompting the prince to raise his gaze form his book to the fire in front of him and acknowledge the words _his vampire_ had spoken. "You shouldn't believe everything you read." Her tone of voice was low and contemplating as her own crimson eyes scanned the text of a different book laid atop his desk across the room form the fireplace. The book itself rested against a wooed support tilted at an angle, its pages worn and yellowed over time while the text itself was in Latin and the black letters elegantly put to paper by hand. Seras's right index finger followed one particular paragraph adjacent to a crude depiction of what appeared to be a _vampire_. Her head tilts to the left, eyes narrowing in concentration towards what that picture was trying to describe: a fanged and distorted featured human with what appeared to be blood on its face. How amusing.

"I don't eat children." She frowns at the particular choice of words written in the text upon reaching a certain line. "Most of this is wrong." Vlad closes the book he was reading placing it atop the small square table adjacent to his chair, a table where three more books stood in a neat stack one atop the other alongside a candleholder baring three lit candles.

"You'll hurt your eyes," she appears directly in front of him standing before the fireplace, with her hands behind her back and a soft smile upon her lips. Her clothing the same as over 7 days ago when he last saw her and parted with her in the cave: the long black coat, the black knee high boots and perfectly molded on leather pants showing off her flawless curves. The tight black bodice hugging her ample chest and soft, flat stomach over a white cotton shirt she did not bother to lace up at the base of her throat thus exposing her clavicles, a bit of her shoulder and a good amount of cleavage as if saying you can look, but not touch. Her hands bare when last time he saw her white gloves adorned her slender fingers. Her hair shining gold in the orange light of the fire. "Reading like that."

"A week tonight." Well more or less to be exact. He leans back into his chair a bit more. "You're late vampire."

"You never gave me an order," she grins. "_Master_."

The two stare each other down for a moment longer after which the prince stands up rising to his full height easily towering above her once again. At least one more familiar sight in a world so completely foreign to her. And how she missed it.

"Now then, tell me w…"

"_No longer afraid_." Seras carefully whispers interrupting him looking up from his chest along the long and toned, corded column of his throat to his handsome face. "You've grown." Her right hand reaches out to touch his right shoulder in a feather like touch before her fingers lightly tread through the soft raven hair for a second, then 2, then 3 slowly wrapping one ebony lock around her finger before letting it unfurl from the digit in a graceful manner until she eventually pulls back completely whispering...

"_I went home_." Her gaze lowers and with it her fingers leave the silken strands of his hair. "I spent a lot of time anywhere but home and when I did," she paused for a moment shutting her eyes in recollection. "I've not taste blood in…so long. My mistake." She smiles but he can see a lingering sadness in her expression. "I thought I would be alright sleeping for a while, then drinking, then sleeping. Once I got bored with the world around me sleep sounded good. I drank what I could forehand…another mistake. I went too long without blood and the blood I took wasn't good." Her gaze briefly rose to face him before turning around to walk away. "It held dire consequence." She paces slowly moving behind his chair, her steps surprisingly silent for the strange type of footwear she wore. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but you might as well know. There was a family there, they were nice to me. So I offered them kindness in return. Regrettably, when your whole country is starving all deer in the land belong to the kind like he's some miracle of god taking a few to feed someone else is yet another regrettable mistake you learn not to make a second time." She turns head to look at him over her right shoulder while her back continues to face to him and her expression stays just as melancholic.

"Blood, death and a starving rage filled vampire." Her eyes narrow and the crimson liquid within her irises darkens. "A new fear for you to learn." She then briefly laughs exposing her fangs. "I don't," she quickly corrects herself. "No, I can't remember exactly what I did to them in revenge. To all of them. They killed so I slaughtered in return. They burned the whole village down so I stained the ground in their blood and their memory in more than simple carnage." Her gaze lowers to her right hand which comes up palm up. "I've never gone rogue before. I've never experience blood rage as violent as this before. At least not to my knowledge." A rolled up peace of parchment appears on her hand which she then studies as silence briefly descend between them.

"Do you remember that night as Edirne wh…"

"Yes." He replies even quicker without a hint of hesitation starting to wonder exactly why she was suddenly bringing it up.

"I was a lot saner then than back home. I sort of blacked out and woke up all covered in blood." Her hand curls around the rolled up peace of parchment tighter as if trying to erase whatever it was that marred that peace of paper, the act prompting him to yet again wonder why she saying these things.

"I'm wanted." She throws the parchment his way and he easily catches it. "Thought you should know before any more is spoken between us. It was one month ago and I might….do it again." She watches him unfold the parchment while razing an eyebrow in wonder towards her words a second later. "You could feed a whole army for a long time with what I did." His eyes carefully scan over the strange text laid out in front of him not quite familiar with the langue written top it. The bounty however, wasn't all that hard to figure out. "Other will know sooner or later."

**100.000 golden pieces.**

"I _can't_ drink just _anyone's_ blood." Seras continues. "There are standards even to creatures such as me. But I didn't think I would react so badly while enraged. I committed treason in my own country in all the ways you can think of. And I can't guaranty it won't happen again." And that included murder and attempted murder towards those of royal blood. She almost altered history in a horrific fashion, almost.

The prince folds the parchment back up without uttering a single word, turns back to his chair and takes a seat while he makes sure to silently place the parchment atop his table next to his books. And in the silence, he contemplates her words down to the last bit of hidden information hidden between the lines.

"7 years, I think." Seras begins to pace around the room once more. "The longest sleep I've had so far. One year after our last encounter I slept and after that I wondered about for a long time without properly feeding. No wonder I lost it. You were smart to offer blood before words." She stops in front of the window looking up at the moonless night sky and all the stars peppered all over the dark blue blanket. "I might have killed you otherwise."

"I am aware." He finally replies turning his back on her to take a seat in his chair. He places the parchment atop the small adjacent table, rests his elbows on the armrests and places his chin atop his joint hands, crossing his right leg over the left.

"Valuing all the more the _silence_ of your heart. You really are foolish to engage me like that."

"Might and would are not the same." His blue eyes stare into the orange flames deeply lost in thought.

"Even so I'm still starving as we speak." Her fingers spread wide over the surface of the cold window. "You've heard of others like me, but never quite _like me_ over the years. Those few drops of blood told me enough."

"What of it?" he interrupts her while leaning back into his chair.

"He wasn't like me master. No one is."

"Agreed." he replies after a long moment of silence taking a moment to think back on the creature found bound and locked away in the underground foundation of one the noble families about one year ago, a family with a rather blood-filled reputation and many, many missing servants.

"You did not kill him."

"I studied him first." His eyes stay glued to the brightly shining orange and red flames dancing in the fireplace in front of him. The vampire had been an amusing pastime if only for a little while. Regrettably, he didn't meat the required standard already carved into his mind by the vampire of his past.

"Something you've not given up on doing considering," She pauses just enough to quickly glance at the large heavy book resting atop his desk. "And he continued to take breath in a cell beneath the ground you stand upon."

"The answer is _no_." this time he's the one who can easily interpret the direction her thoughts were taking. "You will not see him." Then again, a whole different thought crosses his mind. And with it a sigh as he quietly adds allowing his hands to drop back down. "You already have, haven't you?" 7 days. She'd been gone for seven long days now. Of course she had. And he felt like a fool for not checking on the teen sooner.

"Doubting that would indeed make you look truly foolish. He's gone."

"Of course he is." He wasn't expecting anything else. Not after everything she _taught_ him so to speak. "Did you stake his heart?" not expecting, but curious either way.

"Not really, no." sears pulls hand back from window and within seconds vanish from her spot to reaper in front of him caring the book he once spent a good amount of time studying and simply casting it to the fire. The flames were quick to engulf the old paper making short work of it.

"It was expensive." He moves his gaze from the fire and the book she had just thrown in to her smiling face and cocky expression. "And old."

"And taught you _nothing_ of my kind." She holds his gaze with just as much fire as the one consuming his _teacher_ on matters undead. So little, so very little indeed. He was still that young man she forced to _listen_ to a new way of life. And he still had so much to learn.

"Enlighten me then." the fire grown larger behind her consuming the book page after page after page, eating away at the entire manuscript.

"Is that an order, my master?" the sheer gall of her words has him chuckling while pushing himself back up. He stands up again in front of her and smiles and the corners of his lips curl in a rather devious fashion he no doubt picked up from her somewhere along the way. The blue in his eyes darkens to match despite the bright light of the fire and his almost fang like canines peer from under his upper lips while grinning that way. He doesn't need to verbally answer her. They'd wasted too much time already, far too much.

Each and every candle in the room blew out along with the flames he so diligently liked to watch and ponder over in the dead of night; the book not yet turned to ashes. The flames made no smoke while dying and all that was left were two bright crimson eyes to replace his beloved fire. Darkness greeting him just like 7 days ago.

The veil of clouds covering the full moon finally parted.

_Undead_…

How well he remembered her beautifully whispering that one strange word, that concept so very foreign to his then young mind.

She had not aged a day since then while time had passed him by with little comfort as to the life he would lead.

He'd never forgotten.

The first of her kind.

_**Nosferatu...**_

**.**

**.**

Crimson burning in the darkness of the room like fire.

And a tendril once again coiling around his middle to pull him in.

_**.**_

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To be continued….


End file.
